


The Soul Within

by LadyMoonScar



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Experimentation, Fluff and Smut, Graphic Death(s), Heavy Angst, Liberation, Multi, Parent!Balin, Political Alliances, Rebellion, Seperate World, Super Human Abilities, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-25
Updated: 2014-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-22 14:03:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 26,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2510387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyMoonScar/pseuds/LadyMoonScar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Vitulamen race has been forced into destitution. Humans build camps known as Institutes in order to control, experiment and ultimately destroy all Vitulamen. Inez Jackson, an Anima, finds herself in a world where not only is she safe from such dangerous prejudices, but a world where her entire race could thrive once more. But there are still dark forces to contend with and Inez has been on the run for years. Can she overcome her pride? Can she free her people?<br/>Read to find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Redemption: Chapter 1

Inez Jackson was one of those ‘quiet ones’.  
You know; the ones who are as quiet as a mouse and sit in the very back of the classroom, hunched over and paying eerily close attention to everything around them. Inez was no exception. She was a small, slight girl with pale skin and the lightest pair of blue eyes anyone could possess hidden under long, dark brown hair.  
That was because Inez Jackson was a Vitulamen; a Sucker. There were three different kinds of Vitulamen; plant, element and soul. Plantate were the most common, but they actually helped the environment. Elementari were the ones who could blend into society without any fuss. Your best friend could be an Elementari and you wouldn’t even know it. And then there was the Anima, the rarest of Vitulamen. So rare, in fact, they were believed to be a myth.  
But that was what Inez was; an Anima Vitulamen.  
A soul sucker.  
Plantate, Elementari or Anima… It mattered little. The humans thought them abominations and wanted them destroyed. Some governments had Vitulamen executed as soon as they found them. Others experimented on them, learning new ways to kill and manipulate them.

Inez looked up from her whittling to look around. Those passing by would think that she was just watching the carnival, but in fact she was keeping an eye out for any of the MIB losers. They did their best to blend in, but Inez knew how to spot one of their kind in an instant. But seeing no one, she returned to the dancing couple she was finishing up.  
“Excuse me, could you tell me how much this is?” A middle-aged man was holding up a large carving of a bloodhound sitting with its paw held out as if to shake.  
“Fifteen.”  
“A bit pricey.”  
Inez looked the man in the eye. “Considering how big it is, how much time it took to carve that damn thing and the fact that it has details on it, fifteen is modest.”  
The man shrugged and took out his wallet. Inez reached out to take the money and froze. There were four of them. Right behind the man, behind the cotton candy machine.  
And they had spotted her.  
“Fuck,” she muttered. The man looked at her, scandalized. “Uh… Take care of it,” Inez said, hurriedly pocketing the cash. “I’ll, uh, be right back.” She rolled up her trusty whittling tools and stuffed it into her backpack.  
“Where are you going?” the man called. “Aren’t you going to gift wrap this?”  
“Do I look like Hallmark?” Inez snapped over her shoulder. Damn, damn, damn, damn! Why today of all days? She was trying to earn a little money! But no… MIB’s ruined everything!  
Inez walked to one of the fun houses and up to the operator. “Guys in suits are causing trouble for me,” she said in a low voice.  
The operator glanced casually at them. “G’head in. Go to the mirrors. Us carnie’s gotta stick together, eh?”  
Inez ducked inside and used the custodian door to get to the Hall of Mirrors. The room was painted black with blue lights, giving the place an eerie feeling. Inez made sure her whittling kit was safely tied to her belt. She wished she was wearing something other than the ruffled skirt. It would only slow her down. But three years of living rough had taught her enough about survival.  
Inez stayed silent as the men in suits walked into the hall of Mirrors.  
“Jesus,” the youngest said. “I can barely see anything.”  
“Just stay sharp,” the muscular one grunted, pulling out his gun and silencer. “She gets the drop on you, you’re history.”  
Inez rolled her eyes and slowly started to crawl towards the exit to the rope ladders. If she could up there, she was golden. The MIB’s would have to turn back through the fun house, but all she had to do was use the slide and run like Hell.  
“What do you think this one is?”  
“Profile said Anima.”  
“A soul sucker?! Jesus, I ain’t never taken one of them down before.”  
The darkest part of Inez snarled and she clamped down hard on it. If she lost control now, it would end in bloodshed. She continued to make her way to the exit, stepping whenever the MIB’s would step.  
“Hey!”  
Inez ducked and a mirror across from her cracked as a bullet imbedded itself in the glass. She froze and remained still as the MIB’s looked wildly around for a bolting girl. They wouldn’t find one; Inez had learned long ago to overcome that reaction.  
“Where are you, you sucking bitch?!”  
“Fuck, man, don’t get her angry!”  
Inez rolled her eyes and started moving again. She was almost there…  
One of them saw her and shot at her feet. Inez leapt forward and crashed into a mirror. It tipped over and crashed into another one, creating a domino effect and trapping the MIB’s. She fled to the exit and the rush of sunlight burned her eyes.  
Inez started climbing the rope ladder. As she put weight on her left foot, pain shot up her ankle and she swore. She must have twisted it when she jumped. Ignoring the wound, she kept climbing.  
She was nearly at the top when the MIB’s burst through the door. They groaned as the sun hit them, but shouted at her and started to climb. Inez made it to the top and quickly took out a whittling knife. There were three ropes holding the ladder up. She started sawing through the material, smirking as it easily cut under her always-sharpened knife.  
“You fucking bitch!” Muscles screamed as the ladder jerked under their weight as the first rope snapped. “You stupid whore!”  
“I wasn’t doing anything wrong until you guys showed up!” Inez screamed, slicing through the second rope. “I haven’t hurt anyone in three years! That first time was an accident; I didn’t know I could do that!”  
“Like fuck you didn’t,” Muscles shot back.  
The rope snapped and Inez started on the last one, only to stop and let gravity take its toll. She stuffed the knife back inside her kit and then climbed the stairs to the slide. She jumped and tumbled down it, reaching the bottom with no problem. She hopped off and started to run for her life to the parking lot.  
Her ankle was throbbing painfully and she knew if she didn’t get off it soon, she was screwed to infinity. Inez ducked behind the Port-A-Lou’s and stopped to catch her breath. She had to get out of there. But how? She couldn’t hotwire a car!  
A man stepped out from one of the lou, still buckling his belt. Inez could tell right away that he was the type who was always trying to get girls in bed. She straightened up, opened up her jacket and pushed her breasts out.  
“Hi,” she purred.  
The man eyed her chest appreciatively. “Hi to you, gorgeous.”  
“I’m wondering if you can do me a favor,” she said, batting her eyes. “I just broke up with my boyfriend and he left with the car. Could you give me a ride to town?”  
The man grinned and put an arm around her. “Ah, sure, babe! Come on.” He pulled her to the parking lot and to a rusty bucket of a Taurus.  
Inez climbed in the passenger seat and didn’t bother to buckle as the man sped away from the carnival. And the MIB’s.  
“Name’s Rick.”  
“Anna,” she lied with a purr.


	2. Redemption: Chapter 2

Inez climbed out of the car and started to walk away.  
“Hey, wait!” Rick called back. “You’re just gonna leave?”  
“Yep,” Inez called over her shoulder as she pulled her jacket and small backpack back on. “Have a nice life.”  
Could have had him…  
Inez gritted her teeth. Shut up. I don’t whore myself. He got us here, that was it. Now I’m gonna scald every inch of my body until I blister.  
Could have let me feed…  
Inez slammed her fist against the concrete wall of a pro shop and sent the pain directly to her darker side. “Over my dead body,” she growled.  
Do not deny me. I will only feed on scum like Rick. I won’t even touch the men in suits.  
“It’s wrong, Anima,” Inez sighed, leaning against the shop.  
It is who we are.  
Inez growled again and continued walking to the diner. She still had money from her purchases and was starving. She ordered a cheeseburger with everything, a side of fries and a berry smoothie. Although it never satisfied her, Inez’s darker side loved berry smoothies.  
“You look like something the cat dragged in, hon,” the waitress said sympathetically. “Food’s on the house. And dessert.”  
Inez smiled gratefully. “You have no idea how awesome you just made my day.”  
The waitress, Judy, smiled kindly. “You stayin’ anywhere tonight?”  
“I was going to catch the first bus to the city,” she answered around her fries.  
Judy shook her head. “Buses stopped comin’ an hour ago. They don’t start up until midnight. Tell you what; there’s a room above the diner. You go ahead and use it until tonight.”

Inez limped out of the steaming bathroom wrapped up in a towel. She took one look at her skirt and tossed it into the bin. She pulled out dark jeans from her backpack and tugged them on after her thong and bra. She pulled on her shirt and started to watch TV. She landed on a flashy musical with Christina Aguilera and Cher and settled down to watch.  
It wasn’t everyday she lived like this. She hadn’t had a home in three years.  
Inside her head, Anima purred and faded into sleep. Inez kept an eye on the clock and an ear downstairs in the diner. It was busy now that it was time for dinner. Inez just hoped no one came looking for her.

Inez was jolted awake by the sounds of shouting downstairs. She sat up in the bed and turned off the TV, cutting Julie Andrews off. Inez could hear Judy contending with a deeper voice.  
“Shit,” Inez hissed. It was the MIB’s!  
“Listen, lady, we just wanna search the place.”  
“There isn’t anything here,” Judy snapped. “Just my granddaughter upstairs and she’s sick as a dog! Unless you have a warrant or something…”  
“We ain’t the police, ma’am,” the youngest voice explained. “We’re from the Institute. There’s been a Vitulamen sighting in this town and we need to make sure nobody falls prey to the monster.”  
Inez threw on her socks, boots, bustier and jacket. She stuffed her whittling kit into her pack and looked wildly around for an escape route. She could hear Judy losing the fight downstairs. It wouldn’t be long until they came for her.  
She ran to the window and threw it open. It was a long way down, but there was no other way. God, and on a sore ankle, too. Anima was working herself into a fit, making Inez want to throw up.  
Just breathe, she thought soothingly, swinging her legs out the window. I’ll get us out of here.  
The door burst open and Muscles shouted, “Hey!”  
Inez jumped. She braced herself for a sudden jolt, but the ground never came. Instead, she fell through the ground and she was suffocating.

Gandalf the Grey was a Wizard who had seen many a strange thing. But the sight of an unconscious girl sprouting up from the Road like a carrot took the cake. He squatted down beside her and noticed that her left ankle was red and swollen.  
“My dear girl,” Gandalf murmured. “What happened to you?”  
In his experience, nothing was a coincidence. The coming of this strange girl at this particular time had to be the will of the Valar. And nobody questioned their will. So, showing the supremacy of a much younger man, the Grey Pilgrim lifted the girl off the ground and began his second trip to the Shire.  
And the home of the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins.


	3. Redemption: Chapter 3

Bilbo answered the door with fingers trembling from anger and confusion. There were twelve Dwarves in his dining room! Twelve! And now, apparently, more had arrived. Bilbo threw open the door, determined to put his hairy foot down this time, but stuttered to a stop. “Now see he-here…”  
Gandalf stood there with an unconscious girl in his arms. “Do step aside, Bilbo! This lady his hurt!”  
“Great heavens above!” Bilbo exclaimed, moving aside so that Gandalf could sweep inside. “Where on earth did you find her?”  
“What’s goin’ on?” Kili stuck his head out of the pantry and gaped. “Lads, come look!”  
The Dwarves poured into the front room to gawk at the Wizard carrying a pale, sleeping lass.  
“Well, bless me,” Bofur gasped.  
“What happened, Gandalf?” Balin asked, placing a hand on the girl’s forehead.  
“I do not know,” the Wizard replied tersely. “I found her like this on the Road. Poor thing has a twisted ankle. Do you have a place to set her down, Bilbo?”  
“Y-Yes, quite!” the Hobbit squeaked. “This way!” He led the Wizard into one of the guest bedrooms and lit a candle on the nightstand.  
Gandalf placed the girl on the bed and then proceeded to roll up her trouser leg and slip off the strange boot and tiny stocking. “Oin, dear fellow; have you anything to put on this?”  
The old Dwarf hobbled forward, pulling a wrap of sweet smelling herbs from his bag. He wrapped it around the girl’s ankle and nodded. “It should stay there for an hour. After that it will be stiff, but healed.”  
“Then we should let her sleep,” Gandalf decided. “Now then, will someone get me a little red wine?”

Thorin Oakenshield had heard many a stupid idea in his time. But when his nephews told him about the strange girl Gandalf had picked off the Road as soon as he walked into Bag End was one of the more stupid things he had yet to hear.  
“A girl?” he growled at the Wizard.  
“Well, I wasn’t about to let her rot there, was I?” the Wizard snapped.  
“Where is she?”  
Gandalf led him to the room where he had placed the girl. It was time to peel off the herbs, anyway. While he did just that, Thorin looked down at the girl. No, a young woman. She was pale, unhealthily so, accentuated by the long, dark curls of her hair. Her face was slender and slightly pinched, as if she were having a bad dream.  
“She has yet to awaken?” Thorin asked.  
Gandalf nodded. “I believe that whatever befell her caused much strife. Let her body and mind recover from whatever it was. She will awake on her own.”  
“Blast it, Wizard, we are leaving tomorrow morning! We do not have time for this!”  
Gandalf’s blue eyes flashed. “I know you are impatient, Thorin Oakenshield, but you are not heartless. However, I do believe you to be slow. Look at her attire; have you seen such material or cuts before? I certainly have not. She is not of this land.”  
Thorin raised an eyebrow. “So why is she here?”  
“I suspect the Valar have something to do with it,” Gandalf muttered. “Or do you not think it strange that I should find her now of all times?”  
Thorin grimaced. “I cannot take a woman on this quest! The dangers we face…”  
Gandalf stood up. “Something tells me that they would not faze this child. Now come; we must address your quest to the Company. And you have yet to meet the burglar.”

Bilbo walked into the bedroom where Gandalf had deposited the young woman. She was still sleeping and looked very sick. Bilbo hoped she wasn’t going to soil the bed sheets- they were extremely expensive and so very nice!  
The Hobbit placed the bowl of soup on the bedside table and put the paring knife beside the fruit bowl. He was just about to leave when he thought he saw the girl move. Bilbo frowned and leaned over her, trying to see if she was, indeed, awake. “Um…miss? Miss, are you awake?”  
Eerie blue eyes flashed open and Bilbo suddenly found himself in a choke hold with the paring knife being held to his back. “Don’t move,” the girl hissed in his ear. “How many of you are there?”  
Bilbo swallowed. “F-F-Fifteen! Please, miss, there’s been some mistake… Oh!”  
The knife pressed harder against his side. “Damn right there’s been a mistake,” she growled. “Now, call out to your friends. Or you die.”  
That wasn’t so very hard.  
“Gandalf!” Bilbo’s voice squeaked urgently from the other room. Something was wrong. The Wizard surged to his feet and hurried to the little room where he had deposited the girl. The Dwarves followed after him and they were met with a shocking sight; Bilbo was being held hostage by the girl, a paring knife held to his abdomen.  
Gandalf sighed and held his hands up in a calming gesture. “My dear, that would be unwise…”  
The palest blue eyes Thorin had ever seen glared at them from under dark locks. “What was unwise was kidnapping me, old man. Where are we? And don’t even fucking think about lying!” Her arm visibly tightened around Bilbo’s neck while the knife started to dig at his side.  
Thorin scowled. Of all things… “You won’t harm him,” he scoffed. This girl was too young to even think about killing and she looked too soft.  
A mocking smile touched her lips and Thorin had to suppress a shudder. “No? I’m going to go for the sweet spot; left of the spine, fourth lumbar down, the abdominal aorta. What a gusher,” she hissed in the Hobbit’s ear, making him go pale.  
Thorin narrowed his eyes. The girl wasn’t a killer, but she was scared and confused. And she certainly knew where to inflict a fatal wound.  
Gandalf cleared his throat. “There is no need for that. We are not the ones who hurt you. I found you on the road and brought you here to heal your foot.” The girl moved her weight off her left foot and Gandalf smiled. “Mr Baggins there is our host. It would be very rude if you were to bleed him.”  
The girl looked down at the Hobbit and she looked suddenly horrified. The knife fell to the ground and Bilbo lurched towards Gandalf and the Dwarves. The girl limped backwards into a corner and sank down, wrapping her arms around herself.  
Gandalf picked up the paring knife and handed it to Bilbo. “I think it would be best if you were to leave the young lady with me.”  
“Are you certain that it wise?” Thorin asked.  
“She is frightened and she is confused,” Gandalf said. “And you lot will only glare at her. Now shoo!” Grumbling uncomfortably, the Dwarves left with a very frightened Bilbo. Thorin, however, stayed. Gandalf sighed and shut the door behind Thorin and turned back to the girl who was shaking in the corner. “Now then,” he said kindly. “Why don’t you tell me your name, my dear?”  
She hesitantly looked up at him, eyes shiny with tears. “Please,” she whimpered. “Please, I haven’t done anything! I never hurt anyone-I always kept it secret! I’m sorry just please-please let me go!”  
Gandalf waved his hands at her. “Calm yourself, child. No one will hurt you. And you are not a prisoner. As I said; I found you unconscious on the road and brought you here to heal your injuries. Please, tell me your name.”  
The girl swallowed hard then whispered, “Inez. Inez Jackson.”  
“Why did you attack the Hobbit?” Thorin asked gruffly.  
Inez shuddered and hid her face again. “I thought they’d found me. I thought they’d taken me. I got scared-I’m so sorry!”  
Gandalf shot Thorin a frown. “My dear Inez, I swear to you; no one here means you any harm.”  
Inez looked back up at the old man and sniffed. “Who are you?”  
“My name is Gandalf the Grey Wizard,” he replied. “This is Thorin Oakensheild of the Dwarven race.” The dark-haired man inclined his head slightly, but there was still mistrust in his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to anyone who spotted the Riddick reference.  
> gods, I love that man


	4. Redemption: Chapter 4

The Dwarves were talking loudly again, but they went silent as Thorin returned. Behind him, Gandalf led the girl out. She was clutching his arm as if she would die if she were to let go. And her eyes… They held so much fear and pain.  
“Men,” Thorin grunted. “This is Lady Inez Jackson. She is not dangerous.”  
“Tell that to the Hobbit,” Bofur muttered, earning himself a quick dig in the ribs by Gloin.  
Inez ducked her head. “I’m sorry. I was under a false impression.” She looked at Bilbo and asked just as shyly, “Please forgive me.”  
Bilbo shook himself and fixed a small smile on his face. “You’re forgiven, miss. Er, you look hungry. Allow me to fix you a plate of…something.” Whatever the Dwarves had yet to eat.  
Inez sat down beside Gandalf, her face half hidden by her hair. Inside her, Anima was restless. But when Bilbo sat a bowl of soup and a few biscuits before her, Anima felt bad about attacking him. Does he have a berry smoothie?  
Somehow I doubt it, Inez replied as she tore hungrily into the bread. Oh, but these are so good!  
“You look a little half-starved, lassie,” Oin observed.  
“Don’t get to eat often,” she mumbled.  
“Your parents don’t feed you?” Balin asked.  
“Never had any parents.” This elicited a few shocked murmurs from the Dwarves.  
“Then where do you live?” Fili asked.  
Inez shrugged. “On the road. Never have enough money for motels. Barely any for food. This is really good! Is there more?” Her bowl was almost instantly refilled by Bilbo and she dug in again.  
Balin found himself deeply affected by the girl’s words. He remembered another young lady who had been living rough and how much she had meant to him and his brother.  
Thorin exchanged a look with Gandalf before asking, “Where are you from?”  
Again, she shrugged. “The longest time I stayed in one place was Chicago.”  
“And where is that?”  
It finally dawned on Inez exactly where she was. She looked up from her meal and stared at them all from under messy locks. Her pale eyes turned fearful and they wondered at her sudden change in attitude. “Just to clarify,” she said in a small voice. She turned to Gandalf. “You’re the Grey Wizard and…you are the Thorin Oakenshield? Son of Thrain, son of Thrór? King Under the Mountain?”  
Thorin raised an eyebrow. “Yes.”  
Inez pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. “Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori. Right?”  
“How do you know our names?” Gloin demanded, very suspicious.  
“Because you’re not supposed to exist.” There were grumbles at this. “Where I come from…all of this is made up. Just a story that…someone…tried to get me into. But now, here you are and I am experiencing one Hell of a migraine.”  
Thorin scowled. “I don’t believe you.”  
“That’s cool; I figure this is just a messed up dream and I’ve really been kidnapped and drugged.”  
Gandalf’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “Tell me, Miss Inez; if this were a dream, could you feel this?” He kicked her aching ankle.  
Inez didn’t move or make a sound. At least, not right away. She just sat there with her eyes closed and her right hand squeezing the bridge of her nose. “If you do that again, Wizard,” she finally growled, “I will not be responsible for what happens to you.” She stood up and promptly fell against the wall and started limping into the hall.  
“Where are you going?” Thorin barked.  
“Bite me!” Inez snarled. “I’m getting away from abusive Wizards!”  
Bilbo scurried to her side. “Here; let me help you.” He gingerly put an arm around her waist and she leaned on him for support. The Hobbit took her into the parlor and sat her down in the armchair by the fire. He returned and demanded of Gandalf, “What possessed you to kick her?!”  
Gandalf merely stood and followed the girl. It wasn’t Inez who had spoken to him; her voice had been too…feral. He found her sitting by the fire, foot propped up on a stool and staring into the fire, emotions playing on her face in great leaps.  
“I’m sorry.”  
The girl stiffened, her pale eyes flashing with some hidden power. “You know.”  
Gandalf nodded and moved towards the mantle. “It has been a few years since I last saw one of you. But I never met one on her own.”  
Inez smirked without humor. “You don’t know my world. Travelling in ‘packs’ is how we get caught.”  
“You were found, though.”  
Her lips thinned and she looked back into the fire. “It’s getting harder to stay hidden. Even when you’re on the run constantly.”  
Gandalf frowned.  
Inez sighed. “I own a small backpack, one pair of shoes and socks and my whittling kit. Any clothes I have are stolen and have a short lifespan. I make my way across the country earning what little money I can to live cleanly. I hitchhike, I stowaway. It’s been like that for three years.”  
Gandalf gazed at her sadly. “How old are you?”  
“Twenty last week.”  
“Too young to know the hardships of living rough.”  
“Don’t pity me,” she growled. “It just pisses us off.”  
Gandalf raised an eyebrow. “Us? Then it’s true; you have dual personalities.”  
Inez looked at him and grinned savagely. “And she doesn’t like you, old man.”  
“What about you?”  
Inez was silent for a long while. “I know about you. I know you’re a good man. But that doesn’t mean that I trust you. Or the hairy men listening to every word I’m saying.”  
Gandalf looked up and frowned as the Dwarves peeked their heads in.  
“How did you know we were there?” Kili asked.  
A small bit of humor entered Inez’s face. “A Dwarf breathes so loud you could shoot him in the dark.” She looked around at them. “You really are a noisy race,” she added critically.  
“And you have secrets,” Thorin said.  
“And you reek of revenge, Oakenshield,” she sneered, her pale eyes nearly glowing in the firelight. “Is that your only motivation for getting up in the morning?”  
“Enough, you two,” Gandalf said sharply. “Thorin do not bait her. Inez, do not rise to him. As for the rest of you,” he added, “shame on you for eavesdropping!”  
“Is she coming with us?” Bofur asked excitedly.  
“No,” Inez said just as Gandalf replied, “Yes.”  
The girl glared at the Wizard. “No,” she said firmly. “I’m not into dragons or cursed gold. Such tales never end well.”  
Thorin strode forward and gripped the back of her chair. “What do you know of our quest?” he demanded angrily.  
Inez half rose out of the chair to sneer in his face. “As I said; you really are a noisy race, Oakenshield. Do you really think the fourteen of you can take on a dragon and what lies between? Orcs, trolls and that annoying Elf Thranduil? Ooh,” she smiled, “I’d pay to see that.”  
“Then come with us and I will prove you wrong,” Thorin growled.  
Gandalf rubbed his beak nose. Inez’s smile turned Cheshire like and her pale eyes sparkled. She stood up, her foot no longer ailing her. “Yeah, right,” she scoffed and walked back to where food was waiting for her.  
Gandalf sighed. “Inez is a very special kind of person, Thorin. When she decides to do something, she will do it.” He fixed them all with a stern expression again. “But do not think that you can manipulate her. She can and will bite.”  
“So keep away from her bad side,” Nori deduced.  
“I think it’s too late for uncle,” Kili snickered and then was silenced by the quelling look Thorin shot him.

Far over the Misty Mountains cold  
To dungeons deep and caverns old  
We must away ere break of day  
To find our long forgotten gold

The pines were roaring on the height  
The winds were moaning in the night  
The fire was red, it flaming spread  
The trees like torches blazed with light

Balin looked over at Inez and found that she was curled up in the armchair, fast asleep. One would think that she would look peaceful, but in truth the girl’s face still held the strain of whatever terror haunted her.  
The old Dwarf took one of the spare blankets the Hobbit had left out and placed it over the sleeping girl. He noticed a tear hanging from the corner of her left eye and his heart clenched. The poor lassie…


	5. Redemption: Chapter 5

When Inez woke up the next morning, it was to her stomach growling. The soup and bread she had eaten last night seemed like weeks ago. She sat up in the chair and the blanket around her slipped. She frowned. I didn’t put this on last night…  
Hungry…  
Inez stood up and wrapped the blanket around herself. Perhaps the Hobbit had something a little more substantial than soup.  
I want a berry smoothie.  
They don’t have berry smoothies in Middle-Earth, Inez snapped. She walked into the kitchen and found Bofur, Bifur and Bombur preparing a large breakfast. Thorin, Gandalf, Balin, Dwalin and Ori were already sitting down.  
“Good morning, lass!” Bofur greeted merrily. He made Inez uncomfortable; how could anyone be so cheerful all the time?  
“Hi,” she muttered, sitting at the very end of the table.  
“Good morning, Miss Inez,” Ori greeted politely. “Did you sleep well?”  
Okay, there was no denying it; he was adorable. “Yeah. Thanks.” She wanted to smile at him, but she had had very little reason to smile over the past few years that it was a hard task to achieve.  
Balin sat a glass of milk in front of her and a plate of eggs, sausage and buttered toast. “Eat up, lassie,” he said kindly. “We have a long journey ahead of us.”  
Inez frowned around the toast she had just bitten into. “Come again?”  
“You’re coming with us to Erebor,” Gandalf said cheerfully.  
Thorin saw her pale eyes narrow as she swallowed slowly. “And when exactly did I agree to this?”  
“Well, it’s not like you have anywhere else to go,” the Wizard pointed out genially.  
Inez sipped the wine, her pink tongue darting out to lick the residue from her lips. Thorin found that little action strangely mesmerizing. She sighed. “Damn. You’re right.” She grimaced and placed a hand to her head.  
“Are you alright?” Ori asked.  
I don’t trust them!  
Inez cleared her throat. “Fine. I’m fine. Just fighting another headache.” I don’t trust them, either, but it’s either them or we go back the way we came.  
Anima growled, but stood down.  
“Do you get a lot of those headaches?” Balin asked.  
“Only around new people,” she replied dryly, sniffing at the blanket. She looked up sharply at Balin. “You gave this to me.”  
The Dwarves blinked. How had she figured that out by just smelling the blanket? And it was the Hobbit’s; it should smell more of him if anything. “I didn’t want you to get cold,” Balin replied kindly.  
Inez shifted in her seat, looking like a distrusting animal again. “Why?”  
“It’s called courtesy,” Dwalin growled, coming to his brother’s aid.  
“Inez,” Gandalf cut across the burly Dwarf, “I do not pretend to know what kind of world you have known, but in Middle-Earth there are plenty of people with honor and integrity.”  
A cold, humorless smile crossed the girl’s face and she scoffed. “Honor? It’s nothing but a fairytale.” She stood up, folding the blanket over her arm, and making to exit the kitchen.  
“And where are you going?” Thorin demanded.  
She looked coldly back at him. “Let’s get one thing straight, Majesty; you are not my king. You are not even my own species. So don’t think you can boss me around. I’m going to get cleaned up.” She hesitated, and then said Balin in an undertone, “And thank you for the blanket.”  
Balin quirked his lips as she stalked away. “Well… I do think this journey will be quite interesting.”

Once the whole Company had woken up and eaten, they left the Hobbit-hole only to return with ponies. Inez, Gandalf and Bilbo remained to clean up and lock up Bag End. Bilbo looked back at his home and sighed. He was going to miss his Hobbit-hole. Inez heard him and looked up from petting her black pony. “You’ll have a tale or two to tell when you come back.”  
Bilbo looked at her. “Can you promise that I will come back?”  
Inez shrugged. “That question sounds meant for the Wizard rather than me.” Her pony nickered and rubbed her head against her arm.  
“Careful with that one,” Fili warned. “She’s a spirited old thing.”  
“Really? Then I have the perfect name for you; Xena.” The pony snorted and flickered her ears. Inside of her head, Anima purred and rubbed against her cage like a cat. Food…  
Would you rather walk, Inez spat.  
Thorin watched as several emotions flashed across the girl’s face; first indifference, then something akin to hunger, and then irritation and anger and then to smug victory. What was going through this girl’s head?

Bilbo rode his pony gingerly. It was obvious he was uncomfortable. But Dwalin didn’t care about the Hobbit so much as the rude girl Gandalf had forced upon them. He glared at her back as they made their first day through the hills and little rivers of the Shire. She rode with a straight back and fine posture with her dark hair pulled into a severe ponytail and then split into two braids.  
Inez could feel the Dwarf’s eyes burning twin holes in her back. Inside of her, Anima scoffed. So what if they glare? Let me eat them. The dark one will keep me full for months.  
We need them, Inez thought softly. More importantly, we need the Wizard. Let them accomplish their little quest. When the time is right, we will force them to do whatever we wish. Whatever that was.  
“Will we stop in Crickhollow for the night?” Bilbo asked Gandalf, jerking Inez out of her internal argument.  
“I think we can risk moving a bit farther tonight,” Gandalf said thoughtfully.  
“What sort of risk?” Inez asked, causing the Company to go silent and eye her, The Wizard and the Hobbit.  
“The Barrow-Downs,” Bilbo said in a hushed voice. “They’re full of evil spirits who attack at night. If someone gets lost in there, they’re never heard or seen again. Not even their bodies are found.”  
Inez’s pale blue eyes sparkled. “Ghosts? Are you serious?”  
“Don’t tell me you don’t believe in ghosts, my dear,” Gandalf said lightly.  
“I don’t believe in ghosts,” Inez said in a monotone. “Or fairies or mermaids or even Santa Claus.”  
“Fairies are real!” Oin said. “They steal gems and the like!”  
“And, up until last night, you didn’t believe in Dwarves or Wizards,” Gandalf pointed out.  
Inez rolled her eyes. “So these alleged ghosts… What are we talking about here? Banshee, ghoul or sheets with eye-holes?”  
Bilbo pursed his lips. “I don’t know. No one who has seen a spirit lives to tell the tale.”  
“Then how do you know there are even ghosts?”  
Bilbo gaped for a long moment before huffing and turning away from her.


	6. Redemption: Chapter 6

The Company stopped a few miles shy of the Barrow-Downs. Bilbo looked ready to scurry back to his Hobbit-hole. He wasn’t the only one afraid; poor Ori was jumping at nearly every noise. Thorin was sure that Inez would be just as on edge, but it was apparent that her skepticism for the supernatural kept her at complete ease.  
She sat apart from the Dwarves, sitting cross-legged on the ground and whittling away at one of the spare logs Fili and Kili had brought for the fire. She had the image of a dancing prince and princess in mind and was almost ready to start working.  
“Interesting hobby for a human woman,” Kili said to her back.  
“It’s not a hobby; it’s a living,” was the curt reply.  
“Interesting living for a human woman,” Fili grinned.  
No reply. The brothers looked at each other and sighed. Would it kill this girl to smile?  
A wolf howled somewhere to the east and the ponies nickered uncomfortably.  
“What was that?” Ori squeaked. Bilbo tensed up like a pulled muscle.  
“Just a wolf, lad,” Nori assured his younger brother.  
Inez paused in her whittling and strained her ears. The wolf howled again and she relaxed when she realized that it was heading away from their camp. The ponies were still unhappy.  
Inez stood and, tucking her chisel through her ponytail, went over to Xena. She stroked the black mane and murmured soothing words in a language the Dwarves did not recognize. Soon the ponies stilled and went back to grazing.  
“What was that?” Thorin growled.  
“What was what?” Inez asked wearily, rubbing her eyes. God, what time was it?  
“That language you spoke.”  
Inez yawned and put her tools away and stuck her project by her pack. It was too late to work. “A dead language. It’s called Latin.” She yawned again and then collapsed on her bedroll. “Any more questions or can I sleep now?”  
“Do you ever smile?” Kili asked cheekily.  
“Give me a reason to and I might.” And then she was out like a light.  
“Give her some time, Kili,” Gandalf said kindly. “She has been through a lot.”  
Balin stood and draped Inez’s blanket over her immobile body. “Aye, let her come forward in her own time.”

The horses’ screaming was what woke the entire Company. Thorin, Dwalin, Nori, Gloin and Bifur were on their feet instantly with their weapons in hand. Inez was right behind them, whittling tools out and ready to slash.  
“What in the Nine Hells is going on?!” Nori cursed.  
“Oh no!” Bilbo groaned, shaking like a leaf. “We’re too close to the Downs!”  
“Close ranks!” Thorin barked. “Stay close together!”  
Behind us, Anima snapped. Inez whirled around and saw a white, semi-transparent demon floating menacingly towards Ori. “Ori, get down!” she shouted, already running at him. The young Dwarf didn’t hesitate in dropping to the dirt. Inez threw her tool and it went straight through the spirit. It let out a horrible snarl and changed direction, heading straight for Inez.  
Feed! Anima pleaded. It is the only way! Let me out, Inez!  
If you turn on the Company, I will lock you inside so deep, I will never remember you! Inez thrust her hand out at the spirit and Anima took control. The spirit’s long, clawed fingers wrapped around her throat and opened its ugly maw  
“Inez!” Gandalf cried.  
Anima thrust her hand into the spirit, right where its heart should have been and pulled its soul towards her. The spirit released her, shrieking like a wounded animal and fled. Anima looked at Ori and he noticed that seemed very different. Her eyes were paler and full of hidden power. “Are you hurt?” she asked. Her voice was different, too. Almost child-like.  
“N-no,” he squeaked, getting to his feet. “Thank you.”  
“Don’t thank us just yet,” she muttered, bending to retrieve her whittling tool. “You have dirt on your face.”  
Ori moved to wipe it off, but she stopped him. “It didn’t see you once you were dirty.”  
Ori blinked. “What do you mean?”  
Inez took over once more and felt slightly nauseous. “I mean…” she cleared her throat “you were hidden from sight. It’s a mask.” Her blue eyes widened slightly. “Ori, darling, you might have some use after all.”  
“Ori!” Dori came flying at them, looking very pale. Nori was right behind them, looking just as troubled. “Ori, are you hurt? Did that thing touch you?”  
“No, Inez saved me,” Ori explained. “But she’s hurt.”  
“What?” She touched her neck where the spirit had grabbed her and felt charred skin. “Oh, bloody Hell.”  
“Watch out!” Kili yelled. Four more spirits came at the Company.  
“Ori, keep that mud on your face,” Inez ordered. “Get your brothers painted. And stay together!” She leapt into the fray and started shouting that same thing to the Dwarves. “Put mud on your face! They won’t see you!”  
“Have you gone mad?!” Thorin roared, trying to slash at a spirit.  
“DO IT!” Inez screamed, Anima lending her voice as well. The action made her throat go raw and her wound to throb painfully.  
“Inez is right,” Gandalf said, rubbing mud and grass onto his face and beard. “Do as she says!”  
Inez dropped to a knee and scooped up a handful of dirt and swiped it across her face. A hand grabbed her shoulder and she spun around, ready to attack. It was Balin. “Here!” he said sharply, thrusting a Dwarf short-sword into her hand. “It’s made of iron; it will repel them.”  
Inez stared at him in confusion for a moment before accepting the sword and holding it in front of her as if she were born to it. It shocked Balin for a moment before he was jerked back to the task at hand.

They stayed awake for the entire night. After painting their faces, the Company was too on edge to find sleep. Once morning came, they were still tightly wound and quickly pack up camp and raced through the Barrow-Downs. The stopped about a quarter of a mile from the Downs by a stream and washed the dirt from their faces.  
Inez was kneeling on the other side of the stream, examining her neck. “Alright,” she sighed. “I believe in ghosts. But mermaids and Santa Claus are still fictional.”  
What about the Great Pumpkin? Anima teased softly.  
Inez snorted and started cleaning her neck. Thank you, Anima. For saving Ori.  
He’s an adorable little thing, Anima purred. I may not trust him, but I like him.  
Inez looked to where Ori was sitting patiently while Dori scrubbed the dirt off his face. Nori was just next to them, rolling his eyes at his fussy older brother. A strong sense of melancholy washed over the Vitulamen girl and she sighed. We never had that, did we?  
We came close once, Anima reminded her gently.  
Inez looked away from the brothers and back to her own reflection. She had been pretty once, but the past years of living on the run had left her weather-beaten and thin. There was a permanent look of starvation in her pale Vitulamen eyes and frown lines were already appearing at the corners of her mouth. Any baby fat she had accumulated in her adolescence was long gone, leaving sharp cheekbones and a pointed chin.  
There was movement behind her and she snapped her head up with narrowed eyes, but it was only Balin. “Yes?”  
“May I look at your neck?” he asked pleasantly.  
Inez hesitated and Anima hissed softly. “Be careful,” she warned quietly. She straightened up and took off her leather jacket as he knelt beside her.  
“Oh, lass,” he said. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”  
“I can barely feel it,” she grumbled.  
Balin rummaged through Oin’s medicine bag and took out a burn cream. He lathered his fingers and gently applied it to Inez’s neck. “It will itch once it dries,” he warned. “Don’t scratch. You can wash it off tomorrow morning.”  
Inez nodded once, her gaze once more on the brothers Ri. Balin followed her gaze and smiled. “You may think it a fairytale, but you acted with honor when you saved him.”  
“Such an act would have killed me back home,” she replied. “I put another’s well-being before my own.”  
“That is known as bravery around these parts,” Balin pointed out.  
“Bravery is just another name for stupidity,” she retorted, glancing at him. “Still… I am glad he is safe.”  
The old Dwarf eyed her. “How long have been on your own?”  
Inez looked away. “Nearly all my life. It is…hard to be around so many.’  
Balin touched her shoulder. “You don’t have to be alone anymore, Inez.” He stood up and returned to the others.  
Inez looked back at her reflection and examined her neck again. The cream was drying a light mint color against her skin. It was starting to itch, but it wasn’t bothersome. No, what was bothersome was the warm feeling threatening to spread throughout her chest. Shaking away her melancholy, she got up, jacket draped over her arm and returned to Xena. As she passed him, she squeezed Ori’s shoulder briefly.


	7. Redemption: Chapter 7

Dwalin watched Inez ride. What she had done for Ori the previous night was an act of compassion he didn’t think she possessed. She had said that honor was a fairytale, yet she showed true honor in saving one of the younger members of the Company. He was glad she had; Ori was…endearing and Dwalin felt a painful twist in his guts whenever he tried to think about life without the little scribe.  
“What are you thinking so hard about?”  
Dwalin looked sideways at his brother. “The girl.”  
Balin’s eyes sparkled. “Ah, are you finally going to make me an uncle?”  
“Don’t be stupid,” Dwalin growled. “You’re supposed to be the smart one.”  
“Not to mention the eternally good-looking one,” Balin teased. He nodded at the girl’s back. “What about her?”  
“She’s a contradiction. She says there is no such thing as honor, yet she shows it. She says she is not part of this Company and does not care what happens, but she saved Ori. She saved most of us.”  
“What is your point?” Balin asked.  
Dwalin shrugged. “I just find it strange. And I do not trust her.”  
“The feeling is mutual, big guy.” The brothers looked up to find Inez staring at them over her shoulder, looking slightly amused but mostly irritated. “If you’re gonna talk about me behind my back, make sure I can’t hear you.”  
“Our apologies,” Balin replied, bowing in his saddle. Inez snorted and then yawned hugely. She suddenly looked very tired. Balin kicked his pony next to her and said, “Try and get some sleep, lass. I’ll make sure you don’t fall.”  
Once upon a few days ago, Inez would have told him to shove off. But she slept so infrequently that losing a whole night on a quest thingy was something she could not bounce-back from. So she just settled in her saddle and closed her eyes. She didn’t trust them to tell her life story, but she did trust them enough to get a few hours’ sleep.

Balin stayed beside a sleeping Inez the whole day. He only tried to wake her up when they stopped for a short rest for lunch, but she was fast asleep in her saddle, that he didn’t bother moving her. Although he was sure her bottom would be rather numb when she woke up.  
Dwalin, for his part, shadowed the Ri brothers. He was waiting for Dori and Nori to leave their youngest brother alone for five minutes so that he could check on the little scribe. But Nori had stepped up his brotherly duties and Dori had actually insisted on holding Ori’s hand while the youngest went to relieve himself in the trees. Ori had put his foot down and almost called his elder brother a fussy old git. Dwalin had internally applauded- Fili and Kili physically did so- while Ori stomped away into the trees.  
The warrior-Dwarf was unaccustomed to the hot flashes he received when he caught sight of Ori and his cute freckles. In fact, he was unaccustomed to thinking freckles cute. Cute was not a word Dwalin used very often. But that had been the word that had popped into his head when he first met Ori nearly two years ago.  
When Ori returned to camp, he was pleased when Nori waved him away behind Dori’s back. No matter what mischief he got into, Nori was there for Ori. The young Dwarf walked over to his pony and petted the sandy mane.  
“Are you alright?”  
Ori let out a small squeak and turned to find the imposing figure of Dwalin looming behind him. “Oh! Mister Dwalin, you startled me. Um, yes, I’m quite alright. Thank you.”  
Dwalin nodded, feeling very awkward. “Do you have anything else on you besides that slingshot?”  
Ori glanced down at the tiny catapult on his hip. “Er, no. Dori wouldn’t let me carry anything else.”  
Dwalin raised a bushy eyebrow. “I would have thought he’d bury you in weapons to protect yourself. Or does he think that he can defend you just as well?”  
Ori went red. “I am quite capable with defending myself, Mister Dwalin,” he said stiffly. “I am not some frail dwarfling that needs to be coddled.”  
Dwalin straightened just as stiffly. “Of course not.” He walked away.  
“That was adorable.”  
Ori jumped as Inez dismounted. “Where you eavesdropping?!”  
“It’s a bad habit, I know,” she admitted, rubbing her stiff backside. She fixed him with a semi-stern expression. “You shouldn’t have snapped at him. Dwalin was only looking out for you. And he’s right; you should have something more than just that twig.”  
Ori bristled on behalf of his slingshot, but recognized the wisdom of her words. “I know. I just get so frustrated when Dori coddles me!”  
Inez’s pale eye became sad and she placed a hand on his shoulder. “I envy you.”  
Ori blinked. “Y-You do?”  
“Very much so. I never had a family. Came close for a few years, but then that was taken from me. I never had any older brothers or sisters. I might somewhere, but I doubt it.”  
“I’m sorry,” Ori said softly.  
“Don’t be,” Inez said brusquely. “I’m not telling you this to earn sympathy. I’m telling you because one day you might have your brothers taken away. Treasure what you have. Don’t take it for granted like I did.”  
Ori nodded.  
“And as for weapons…” She unrolled her whittling kit and pulled out three sharp tools. “Follow me.” She led him over to a tree stump and handed him a tool. “Throw this as hard as you can into the stump.”  
Ori took the tool uncertainly. “Why?”  
“I want to see how strong you are.”  
Ori sighed and threw the tool down at the stump. It sank halfway into the wood, the dark handle quivering slightly. Inez handed him a second tool and he threw it and then the third. The tools were grouped close together and each one deeper than the next.  
“Good,” Inez said in a deadpan. “Now take them out.”  
Ori sighed and gripped the handles and pulled them sharply up once. He held them out to her, but she only took one and threw it at a tree trunk several paces away. The way she threw was like she was skipping stones. The tool went hilt deep into the trunk, splitting the wood slightly.  
“Now you try,” she said, still deadpan. “Hit directly above the one I just threw.”  
Ori threw and Inez’s eyes started to widen behind his back. Three little tools all in a straight column. Inez retrieved them, a plan forming in her mind. “Fili?” she called.  
The blonde Durin looked up from his apple. “Aye?”  
“Can I borrow you for a moment?”  
“Sure!” he said brightly, bounding up to her. “What can I do for you milady?”  
Inez pointed at the tree. “Three knives in a straight line. Go.”  
Fili grinned. “I love a forceful woman.”  
Inez smiled, but it was borderline sadistic. “Either throw the knives or I’ll use them to cut off your family heirlooms.”  
Fili’s roguish smile slipped and he angled his heirlooms away from her. “Whatever you say, Miss Inez.” He took out three of his throwing knives and threw them at the tree. It wasn’t a straight line and the grouping was far apart.  
Inez nodded once and then went to retrieve the knives. Fili looked at Ori. “Do you know what she’s on about?” Ori shook his head and shrugged.  
Inez returned and handed Ori the knives. “Now your turn. Aim below his bottom mark.”  
Fili looked at her over Ori’s head. Aiming that low was hard to do. What did she hope to accomplish? Three thuds later, Fili ate his thoughts. Three knives in a perfect column. The corners of Inez’s mouth were twitching as she retrieved the knives again.  
“Ori,” Fili laughed, clapping the Dwarf on the back. “You are a natural!”  
“Seriously,” Inez added. “Have you trained before?”  
“N-No,” Ori squeaked. Inez gave him a stern look and he sighed. “Alright, yes. Nori taught me when I was little, but Dori found out and nearly strangled him. I haven’t thrown a knife since.”  
“You should practice,” Fili said.  
“Dori will never allow it.”  
Inez scoffed as she rolled her kit back up. “Far be it for me to disagree with a mother hen.”  
“Ori!”  
“Ah, speak of the Devil and he shall appear,” Inez drawled with a roll of her eyes.  
Dori stomped up to the trio. “Ori, what on Earth are you doing? Get on your pony; Thorin says we’re moving out!”  
“I was teaching him who to throw knives,” Inez said in a deadpan.  
Dori looked ready to scream, but he controlled his temper. “Miss Jackson, while I appreciate you saving his life last night, I would appreciate it even more if you would keep such thoughts out of his head.”  
“He’s a natural,” she retorted. “He should practice.”  
Dori took a step towards her. “Do not tell me how to raise my family,” he hissed. He pulled Ori away to the horses, muttering hotly, “I don’t want you anywhere near that girl, do you understand me?”  
Ori looked back at Inez miserably.  
Fussy old git, Anima grumbled. Inez grunted in agreement.  
Fili looked at her as they headed back to the ponies. “You were right to try and get Ori using weapons. But challenging Dori like that was disrespectful.”  
Inez raised an eyebrow. “You Dwarves take things too seriously.” She wrinkled her nose. “With the exception of personal hygiene.”  
Fili blinked as they mounted their ponies. “Did you just call me smelly?”  
Inez looked at him. “That depends. Are you gonna cry me a river, princess?”  
Kili, Bofur and Balin laughed while Gandalf chuckled and Thorin watched his nephew and the girl. Fili threw back his head a laughed. “I really do like you, Miss Inez!”

When they stopped again for the night, Fili and Kili sat down on either side of Inez for dinner. Subsequently, Thorin sat opposite Kili with Balin, Dwalin and Gandalf close by and Bilbo shadowing the Wizard. Inez felt very uncomfortable for the first hour, only replying in grunts and hums. But then she opened up a bit when Gandalf started telling a story about the first Vitulamen he had met.  
“What’s a Vitulamen?” Kili asked.  
“What was he like?” Inez asked at the same time, latching onto the tale like a life raft. Gandalf smiled at her and said that the man had been very generous to share a meal with an old stranger and that he had died fighting Orcs. Upon hearing the Vitulamen’s fate, Inez closed off again. “He died,” she said in a flat voice. She scoffed angrily. “Sounds about right.” She got up and stalked to her bedroll.  
Gandalf watched her sadly. “Death is a natural part of life, my dear.”  
She looked at him, shocking them all as they saw tears in her eyes. “Well, we seem to do it better than most.” She burrowed under her blankets and was still.  
“What did she mean by that?” Bilbo asked quietly.  
Gandalf sighed and pulled on his pipe. “The Vitulamen are a race not indigenous to Middle-Earth. I am not sure where they come from, but the Men there have made it their personal war to destroy the Vitulamen.”  
Balin felt sick. “That’s barbaric!”  
“I agree,” Gandalf said. “But the hardships endured by Inez and her people have turned them cold and distrustful of others. They only trust themselves and their counterparts.”  
“What counterparts?” Kili asked.  
Gandalf pretended not to hear and wouldn’t speak any further. Such things were exclusive to the Vitulamen people and he had a sneaking feeling that he would wake up with a whittling tool in his chest if he continued speaking.

When most of the Company had fallen asleep, Balin checked on Inez. Tear-tracks streaked her pale cheeks and her hands were fisted by her head. He tucked her hair behind her ear in a paternal way.  
“Taken a shine to her, eh brother?” Dwalin grunted.  
“She reminds me of Tithfus,” Balin murmured. “Alone, scared… Lost.”  
Thorin lowered his gaze to the fire while Dwalin clenched his jaw against a sudden and uncharacteristic wave of tears. Gandalf lowered his pipe and let it smoke out.


	8. Redemption: Chapter 8

When Inez woke up the next morning, she was surprised to find herself between Balin and Dwalin. The old Dwarf breathed heavily in his sleep while his brother almost deafened her with his snores. Inez sat up slowly and looked around.  
Dawn was just arriving, the sky a marvelous teal-grey color with a few points of gold. The stars had just disappeared and there was a stillness in the air just before everything woke up for the day. This was Inez’s favorite time; when the world seemed to be full of nothing but peace.  
She crawled out of her bedroll and stood up, watching the sky lighten. Inez didn’t notice Thorin, who had the last watch, watching her. The king was surprised to see her wake before any of the others- even Gandalf still slept. She seemed like the type to fall asleep early and wake late. She certainly had been dead to the world a mere second ago.  
A breeze sighed over the camp, brushing a leaf against Inez’s cheek. It felt almost like a caress. The girl allowed herself a small smile as she reached up and spread her fingers, feeling the breeze pass by the long, tapered digits.  
Thorin watched her. He could spend his whole life just watching this strange girl. Why was that? Why did he trust her when she gave him no reason to? She was insulting and vulgar and… Oh Mahal, fine! She was like every other Dwarf woman. But such traits were shameful in a human girl.  
Or…whatever she was.

Gandalf rode next to Inez that day. He said nothing and she did her best to ignore him. Behind them, the Dwarves and Bilbo were on edge. Last night they had very nearly seen Inez lose control of her emotions because of Gandalf’s tale. And they now had even more questions about their fair companion; who was she, what exactly was a Vitulamen, why were they hunted…  
Inez could feel the stares on her back and wanted to scream. “What did you tell them?” she growled at the Wizard.  
Gandalf glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “Merely that you are Vitulamen and that your people have suffered for countless years.” When she remained silent, he looked over at her. “I leave the rest for you to tell.”  
“I don’t trust them to know.”  
“You must learn to trust some time,” the Wizard replied sternly. “I know it has been hard, Inez, but you have more in common with these Dwarves than you think. They lost a home as well. They have given up their new home to reclaim Erebor.”  
“What?!” Inez pulled Xena to a stop and turned to face Thorin. “You have a home?”  
Thorin frowned. “Of course I do; we’re heading there now.”  
“Not Erebor,” Inez said, “The one you just came from.”  
“Ered Luin?” Kili asked. “Yeah, so?”  
They were shocked and puzzled by the look of sheer disgust written over her face. “Why would you go looking for a tomb when you have a home directly behind you?”  
“Erebor is our home,” Thorin growled dangerously. “It is where our ancestors settled. Our livelihood is there. Our gold is there.”  
“So you’re going after trinkets?” Inez laughed. She kicked her pony forward, shaking her head. “For the love of the ethereal, Wizard, what have you gotten me into?”  
“How dare you?” Thorin snarled, spurring his pony ahead of her and forcing her to stop. “What do you know of it?”  
Inez bared her teeth and leaned forward. “I know more about losing everything more than you could possibly comprehend! I’m sorry you lost your mountain, but you have a new home. Go back to it before you die on this fool’s errand.”  
Thorin felt white hot rage begin to consume him. He could barely see straight! Damn this girl to… He froze, seeing something in her pale eyes. It was the same thing he saw when he looked in a mirror.  
Hatred.  
Pure, undiluted hatred for the world and everything in it.  
Inez was still scowling. “What are you looking at?”  
“Myself,” he whispered faintly.  
She blinked and pulled back violently, nearly wrenching herself off Xena. A small smile briefly touched her lips before it turned dark. “It’s so ugly, isn’t it?” She spurred her pony forward, her face hidden by the dark curtain of her hair.  
Waiting until Inez was out of earshot, Gandalf whirled onto Thorin. “You blind fool,” he berated. “Do not think for a second that you are they only one who has lost everything! In fact, you haven’t. You have your family, a home and your name. Inez has never had any of those.” The Wizard straightened up, calming himself. “Apologize to her.”  
Thorin stared at him. “Apologize to her?! She is the one who has offended me!”  
“For all of our sakes, Thorin,” Gandalf sighed, “tuck in your pride and apologize the lady!” He spurred his horse after Inez, not waiting for a reply.

That afternoon, Bilbo found himself riding next to Inez. He was sneezing a lot from all of the horse-hair and he had left his handkerchief at home.  
“Here.”  
The Hobbit looked over at Inez, who was holding out a red plaid handkerchief. “Oh! Thank you!” He blew his nose like trumpet. “I left mine at home. Stupid of me.”  
The corner of her mouth threatened to curl up. “Tell me, Master Baggins; how does one leave his home so willingly?”  
Bilbo smiled slightly. “Mine is a quiet life. Having Dwarves and you in my house showed me exactly how…dull it was. Although, I could have gone without being threatened.”  
Inez ducked her head. “Yeah. Sorry about that, by the way. I thought I had been…” she trailed off darkly, her hands tightening around the reins.  
Bilbo watched her carefully. “Someone was chasing you, weren’t they?”  
“Someone is always chasing me, Bilbo,” she whispered softly. “It’s a fact of my life.”  
“Why?” he asked. “What could warrant a lifetime of living on the run?”  
Inez looked at him, confused as to why she suddenly felt that she could trust this little fellow implicitly. “Would you really like to know?”  
He nodded.  
Such a strange creature, she thought. To inspire such trust within me long after I had abandoned the concept. Perhaps…I have been too unkind. There is a chance of another life here. But to live…I must trust.  
“The Vitulamen,” she said at last, “were born several thousands of years before humans. In that time something happened. The accounts have become so convoluted that no one really knows how we became bonded with another being. Regardless, our heads housed an ethereal entity that became another part of us. Each one gave us different…abilities. And so we categorized ourselves in our language. Plantae, Elementari and Anima. Plantae helped things grow. They are the most common. Elementari can blend easily into a crowd than the rest of us. They control the elements, conjuring up storms, fog, wind torrents and scorching heat.” Inez hesitated. “I was close one. She took care of me.”  
“What of the other spirit?” Bilbo asked. “Anima?”  
She stirred at her name. Must you tell them? You only need me, Inez. I can protect you. You know this.  
Inez sighed. “Anima are rare. Almost legend. When one is born, the skies are full of falling stars. It’s like the gods are crying. A terrible thing has entered the world. Because Anima feed on that which is more precious than blood and skin. They take the soul; gaining strength and power with each victim. The vessel gains whatever knowledge and memories there are.”  
“You’re Anima, aren’t you?”  
Inez looked over her shoulder at Dwalin. “Scared?”  
He scowled heavily at her.  
“But why run?” Bilbo asked. “Why are your people hunted?”  
Inez grimaced. “The humans never trusted us. They were afraid of our power. And so they butchered us throughout the centuries. When the Age of Technology came about, the humans rounded us up in camps and studied us. They even turned Elementari into weapons to fight in their own wars. The camps are called Institutes. I was born in one. I never knew my parents; I don’t know their names, their faces, what they sound like…”  
“Mahal,” Kili cursed. “That’s barbaric!”  
“When I was eight, there was an explosion in my quadrant. It was an escape. I cannot remember how many there were, but I remember seeing them run past my cell. My spirit told me to follow them. So I did. There were only three other children who made it out. One was a girl. I remember that her wrist was cut and bleeding. I ripped my sleeve to bind it.”  
“You saved her,” Balin said.  
Inez shrugged. “For a time, at least. We topped under a low bride that night. The water was nothing but sewage. My feet hurt, I could barely breathe; I had never run like that before. The adults said that it was best to split up. The oldest woman there took the girl. The two boys went with another man. But no one would take me. Because I was Anima, I would be found more easily.”  
“So you were alone?” Ori gasped. “When you were only eight?!”  
“I was ready to lay down in the sewage and die,” Inez admitted. “But then she spoke up. Reminded everyone that Anima were basically royal. She picked me up and carried me to the next town. After that we disappeared; her Elementari ability to blend in trumped my Anima side. She called me her princess. I called her my guardian angel.”  
“What was her name?” Bilbo asked.  
“Elijah,” she gasped out.


	9. Redemption: Chapter 9

Focusing on a memory can be painful.  
Focusing on the past was sometimes considered unhealthy.  
Obsessing over the past was a one-way ticket into madness.  
It’s a damn good thing I’m already mad, Inez thought with a small smirk.  
They had set up camp in the center of tall, pointed rocks. Blackberry bushes grew by a cliff. Bilbo, Fili, Kili and Ori were snacking on the berries while Inez lay on her back on the soft grass and moss, gazing up at the stars. Her legs were propped up on a log that Bombur was sitting on while cooking.  
She was thinking about the Escape. Talking about it had sent her memories in a whirl and now she had no choice but to go back. But that was going to be hard with the Dwarves yapping like dogs.  
It was suddenly quiet.  
“Inez?” Gandalf called, lowering his pipe.  
She blinked, the breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding escaping her lips. “Yes?”  
“You just told us to be quiet,” Bofur said.  
“Rather colorfully, too,” Dwalin muttered.  
“Did I?” she murmured, still looking up at the stars. “I didn’t realize.” She sat up and rubbed her head as the blood rushed around her head. “I just need to think.” She stood up and started picking moss out of her hair. “I can’t talk about the past without reliving it again. If not, she gets tense.” She ran her fingers through her long dark hair, trying to rid herself of the moss, but it clung to her.  
Balin took pity on her and pulled her down next to him. He started picking the green stuff out, noting that her hair was coarse and matted. “You should wash your hair. It will be easier. There’s a stream in the trees.”  
Inez nodded. “Right.” She stood up, already taking off her jacket. She draped it over Fili’s head and disappeared into the bushes, swiping a few berries for herself. Fili grinned at his brother, who looked extremely jealous.

Gross. How did we let it get like this?  
Grooming hasn’t exactly been high on our priority list for some time.  
“Yeah, but this disgusting,” Inez muttered as she lay on her back to soak her hair. She had taken off her shirt so that it wouldn’t have gotten wet; leaving her only in her bra and bustier.  
Anima purred and rolled around. Those blackberries are delicious! Do you think the fat one can make a pie?  
Inez chuckled and rolled her eyes. “You and berries! A better love story than Twilight.”  
Hmph. Sparkling fairies.  
Inez laughed and sat up to run her fingers through the knots in her hair.  
We’re not alone.  
Inez stood up and whirled around, her pale eyes landing immediately on Thorin as he walked into the tiny clearing. He stopped, seeing her in a state of undress and glaring ferally at him.  
“I-I was just checking on you,” he explained.  
Inez raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Anima, on the other hand, purred. Let’s play with him, she begged. I want to see him squirm.  
He would deserve it, Inez thought. And then she smiled.  
Thorin prided himself of always staying in control. But as he stood there in the woods with Inez without her shirt, he felt suddenly very out of control. Inez stood up, legs flexing under her strange trousers. Her white skin glistened from the water and the moonlight as she moved. Her hands slid sensuously up her legs and came to rest at the front of her hip bones.  
Mahal, but she was beautiful. Beautiful and dangerous.  
“Do you see something you like, Oakenshield?” she purred, taking steps to him. Thorin was rooted to the spot. Inez stopped barely and inch from him. For some reason she was two inches shorter than he was. It wasn’t something she was very picky about at that moment. Inez could feel the heat rising off of him and she felt a genuine stir of want in her.  
Thorin found himself wanting to wrap his arms around the girl and take her then and there. She was so sexy and mysterious and broken. Somewhere, in his darkest of thoughts, he thought that if he could heal her she could heal him.  
“When I want it,” Inez whispered, her lips just a mosquito’s breadth away from his. “You will think of me. You will see me under you, over you, crying out as you take me. And just when you think you will reach your peak…”  
Thorin’s member was painfully tight in his trousers. He had squeezed his eyes shut as she spoke. But when he opened them again, she was stalking away from him and back to camp as she pulled on her shirt.  
“You will always be found wanting.”  
Thorin cursed under his breath. He needed release! He had half a mind- alright, more than that- to call Inez back and strip her bare. But his majestic prince side won over and he let her go. But that did little to lessen his hard on.

Inez walked back into camp, combing her fingers through her wet hair and smirking like a little she-devil.  
“Did you see Thorin?” Kili asked.  
“Yes.”  
They looked at her, but she didn’t elaborate.  
“You didn’t fight, did you?” Gandalf checked.  
Her smile widened and she leaned back on her hands, the fire drying her hair. “No. But he did seem a bit…hot and bothered.”  
Gloin choked on a biscuit and Dori thumped him on the back. Balin shook his head while Dwalin looked torn between yelling at Inez and laughing outright.

He thrusted into his hand, grunting as he pictured Inez swallowing him. Oh, how her tongue would tease him just as her words did! His breathing was ragged and torn as her scent invaded his senses.  
How could one woman hold him in such a way after only a week?  
It was infuriating!  
It was astounding!  
It was…  
Thorin bit down hard on a roar as he spurted his seed onto the grass. He slammed a hand on the trunk of a tree to steady himself.  
Damn him, but he wanted her. Thorin Oakenshield wanted Inez Jackson.  
And he always got what he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, so I'm not sure where the Mature rating should come in on this sight. is this last scene cool with the rating I have, or do I need to bump this up?


	10. Redemption: Chapter 10

Balin woke up the next morning with a weight on his arm. He had fallen asleep sitting against a tree. And it would seem that Inez had, too. Her head rested against his arm, her face gentle and uncaring. Her breathing was soft and even.  
The old Dwarf smiled and carefully lifted her blanket over her shoulder. Inez stirred, but merely snuggled closer to him, her calm breath fluttering strands of his white beard. She was innocent like this. She wasn’t crass or angry or withdrawn. She was just a girl lost in the world.  
“Time to move out,” Dwalin muttered, passing by on his way to wake Bofur and Bifur.  
Balin nodded and gently nudged Inez awake. “Rise and shine, my lady. It’s time to move.”  
Inez’s eyes fluttered open and she looked around. “Hmm?”  
Balin smiled and something possessed him to affectionately tug on a lock of her hair. “Time to wake up. We’re moving out again and breakfast is ready.”  
Inez grumbled softly and snuggled back into his side. “Too damn tired,” she mumbled.  
Balin chuckled as he felt warmth wrap around his heart. It had been too long since he had felt this way. He caught Dwalin’s eye and the warrior-Dwarf had a peculiar expression on his face, like he was solving a particularly challenging puzzle.  
Thorin, for his part, was jealous that Inez had fallen asleep against Balin. For one strange moment, he wondered if she preferred obscenely older men. Then he shook his head and cursed himself for being a fool. Damn it, but why did she affect him so?!

Inez was tearing into a loaf of bread when Ori sat down next to her. “Won’t your brother blow a gasket if he sees you with me?”  
“Nori happens to like you,” he replied with a little bit of cheek.  
The Vitulamen chuckled. “Cute. I meant the brother hen.”  
Ori sighed. “Dori needs to come to terms with the fact that I’m not a dwarrowling anymore. He can’t tell me who to be friends with.”  
She coughed a little. “Say what?!”  
Ori looked at her with a shy smile. “That is… I’d like to be your friend, Inez.”  
She ducked her head and swallowed her meal uneasily. “Friends… Never really had any.”  
The young Dwarf blinked. “Never?”  
“I spent the first eight years of my life in an Institute, the rest as a loner and that last three years running for my life. Friends never came into the mix.”  
You don’t need friends, Anima whispered in her mind. You only need me!  
“Everyone needs friends, Inez,” Ori said. He held out his hand to her. “How about we start as good acquaintances?”  
Inez smirked slightly- or it could have been a genuine smile- and she hesitantly reached for the offered hand.  
“Ori!” Both of their heads snapped up to see Dori as mad as a bull bearing down upon them. “What did I tell you?! I don’t want you mixing with her!”  
Inez made to get to her feet, a snarl already fixed on her face and Ori opened his mouth to object when Nori planted himself between his brothers. The camp was silent as they watched the stand-off.  
“Nori,” the eldest brother growled, “get out of my way!”  
“No,” the thief grunted. “There’s no harm in them having a friendship.”  
“But she’s…”  
“What?” The voice that came out of her mouth echoed with two voices as Inez stood up. She looked positively feral. “We are what? Inhuman? A freak of nature? Something that should be snuffed out like a light?! There is no insult, no comparison that you can say that we have not already heard over the course of our life, Dwarf!”  
“Inez!” Gandalf warned, snapping her back into control.  
The girl glared at Dori before sniffing disdainfully and walking away from them all to prepare Xena. The Wizard muttered under his breath about the stubbornness of Dwarves. Nori and Ori glared at their older brother, along with most of the camp.  
Balin was the brave one and walked up to the girl. “Don’t take it to heart, lassie.”  
She scoffed, but said nothing.  
“We Dwarves have strong family ties; we take protecting ourselves very seriously. Sometimes a bit too…”  
“So I am a danger to you all, then?” she said scathingly.  
Balin frowned. “That was not what I meant, and you know it, lass.”  
She looked over her shoulder at him, pale blue eyes assessing him. “Aren’t you scared that I might eat your soul, old man?”  
The old Dwarf chuckled. “Not really, no.”  
She blinked in surprise. “What?”  
“My dear, I think that if you were going to kill us, you would have done so by now. And I think Dori would have been the first.”  
Inez turned back to Xena. “Thorin is in close second.”


	11. Redemption: Chapter 11

He decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.  
That wasn’t something Dwalin son of Fundin did very often. But he figured that if his brother was affectionate towards her and Ori was willing to go against his stifling brother to be her friend then perhaps she wasn’t so bad.  
Besides, she was an outcast like them. More so than them.  
Dwalin kicked his horse next to her. He noticed her glance at him, raise an eyebrow and then narrow her eyes. “Tired of glaring at my back?” she shot at him.  
“Even I need a break sometimes,” he growled with a trace of humor.  
Inez rolled her eyes and took out her whittling tools. Steering Xena along with her knees, she started cleaning and polishing the tools, getting rid of the wood chips and splinters. The handle binding on the smallest hook was loose and she carefully bound it up again. Dwalin took note that she was exceedingly gentle with her tools. He had noticed that when she was whittling or carving, she was just as passionate about her craft as any Dwarf.  
“Who taught you your craft, lass?” Dwalin asked.  
“I took classes at school before I went on the run,” she replied. “Started with clay, moved on to wood. I started working with metal, but I didn’t get far. I was discovered before I could begin my first project.”  
They stole her craft from her, Dwalin realized. He wanted to bash their skulls in. “What would have been your project?”  
“A sword. I was torn between a rapier and a katana. But what I really wanted to do was forge a Klingon bat’leth.” Her eyes turned almost dreamy. “Damn, but it’s a beautiful blade.”  
“Nothing beats a blade,” Fili agreed from behind them. “They will never fail you. Unlike bows and arrows.”  
Kili frowned at his brother. “What’s wrong with a bow?”  
“Other than it’s an Elf weapon?”  
“Oh, Mahal, here they go again,” Dwalin grunted under his breath.  
“An old argument?” Inez guessed.  
Dwalin pointed to his scraggy beard. “Ye see these grey hairs? Started coming the moment Kili chose a bow over an ax.”  
A sound akin to clear silver bells chiming touched Thorin’s ears and his heart leapt. He twisted around in his saddle to look behind him.  
Inez was laughing. She was actually laughing!  
The whole Company stared at her as she threw back her head and laughed. Balin started laughing and it proved to be so infectious the rest of them started laughing. Thorin chuckled a few times before kicking his pony forward.  
“I knew you could smile!” Ori cheered.  
“Forget smiling,” Gloin chortled. “She was laughing!”  
Inez subsided into breathless giggles. “I-I haven’t laughed like for a long time. Thank you.”  
Dwalin blinked, but nodded his head to her.

Ori sat on a rock, sketching the Company in his journal. Fili and Kili were wrestling, overseen by Balin, Gloin and Bilbo. Oin was treating Bifur’s head ax while Bofur and Bombur prepared a dinner of light soup. Thorin and Gandalf smoked their pipes nearby while Inez sat back to back with Dwalin, both whittling. Dori and Nori were having a heated discussion apart from everyone else, but Ori could guess the subject matter.  
At the moment, the young scribe was sketching Inez and Dwalin. He took particular care in making the warrior-Dwarf’s muscles as correct as he could. Inez had her legs open with her knees up as she finished the carving of the dancing couple. Ori loved the way her dark locks were slung over her shoulder in a silky waterfall.  
Inez suddenly straightened up and threw two of her whittling tools into the bushes, where there was a tiny squeak. She leapt from her place against Dwain’s back and reached into the bush. She pulled out two fat rabbits.  
“Bravo!” Ori cheered.  
“How did you know they were there, lass?” Dwalin asked.  
“Practice,” she replied, handing the rabbits to Bofur to skin. “And nearly three years of living off those things.”  
I told you they were there.  
Yes. And thank you.  
Instead of going back to Dwalin, she leapt up onto Ori’s rock and peeked over his shoulder at his sketches. “How’s the drawing coming along?” she whispered.  
Ori blushed. “I’m sorry, I should have asked first…”  
She placed a hand on his shoulder and studied the picture. “Ori… This is fantastic!” She sat down next to him, turning the pages. “Have you done all of these?”  
The young Dwarf nodded timidly. Inez eyed the sketches of the Company and noted that there were quite a few of a certain bald Dwarf. She leaned closer to him and whispered, “A bit more muscle in his legs should do it right.”  
Ori nearly choked on his own tongue. “I-I-I…”  
She gave him back the sketchbook. “You have a talent. Other than for throwing knives, I mean.” She winked at him and went back to sit with Dwalin before Dori could start yelling again.  
Thorin had not missed the exchange between the two. He watched Inez move, noting the surety in her limbs as she leapt nimbly onto Ori’s rock. When she had killed the rabbits, she hadn’t hesitated. A woman who knows what she wants, Thorin thought traitorously. And she’s not afraid to go against Dori.  
Her pale eyes met his blue ones and she smirked. And then she winked at him.  
Thorin swore and got to his feet, stowing his pipe.  
“She’s testing you,” Gandalf warned.  
“Testing my patience,” Thorin growled.  
“It’s an Alpha thing.”  
Thorin closed his eyes and sighed. Damn it… He faced the Wizard. “An Alpha thing?”  
Gandalf nodded. “Inez has been on her own for three years, turning her into a loner. She is also Anima; the royalty of the Vitulamen race. An Alpha, Thorin.”  
“So she’s challenging my right as leader,” Thorin concluded.  
“Oh, Inez has nothing to do with this,” Gandalf said. “It is Anima who thinks you unworthy of your title. You need to show her that she will be safe under your protection.”  
Thorin looked over at Inez. “How’s that?”  
The Wizard cleared his throat. “Well, either you defeat every single member of this Company in single combat, defeat Inez in single combat or you can…” he cleared his throat again. “You can assert your Alpha status over her.”  
“Meaning take her,” Thorin said scathingly. “I am not that kind of man, Gandalf. To do any of those things would be dishonorable.”  
“Then get used to Anima challenging you.”  
Thorin groaned and turned around. “Miss Jackson!”  
Inez looked up at Thorin’s call. He marched up to her, noting the slight vein tick in his forehead. That little vein gave her great pleasure. “Yes?” she responded with a small smile.  
“A word in private, if I may.”  
Dwalin looked between the two and saw the frustration brewing. He stood up and walked away, not knowing who to rout for. Inez stood up and held her hand out. “After you.”


	12. Redemption: Chapter 12

Thorin stomped away from the camp until he and Inez were hidden from a hill.  
“Taking me from camp, out of ear-shot…” She clucked her tongue against her teeth. “What are you planning to do to me, O Fearless Leader?”  
Thorin spun around, his sword flying at her. Inez’s survival instincts took over and she rolled to her right. When she made it up again, she went to grab her whittling tools…only to realize that she had left her kit at camp.  
Her pale eyes widened. “Son of a bitch.”  
Thorin attacked her again, knowing that this was all he could do; he would not defeat his me when most were under his skill- namely the Hobbit- and he would not force himself upon her, no matter his desires. And he had more honor than humiliating the woman in front of others. That left him with this alternative; defeat her in private. Hopefully, it would satisfy her darker side.  
Inez flipped backwards, avoiding another slash and clipping Thorin under the chin with her boot. She straightened up with twin branches in her hands and hissed at him. Thorin smirked and attacked again. Inez batted his sword away with one staff and elbowed him in the eye. Snarling, Thorin brought his own elbow up and caught her in the mouth. Inez gasped and stumbled backwards.  
They stood still for a moment. Thorin felt blood pound over his eye. Inez spat out a globule of blood.  
“What is this about?” the Vitulamen asked.  
“This is about you undermining my authority every chance you get and flashing looks that would make a harlot blush,” Thorin growled. “It ends now.”  
Inez chuckled and bit her cut lip enticingly. “Are you really telling me that you don’t enjoy those looks?”  
Oh, I enjoy them very much. Thorin gritted his teeth. “It ends, Miss Jackson.”  
Her pale eyes flashed white at the challenge and she grinned. “Make me, O Fearless Leader.”  
Thorin charged her. He swung his sword down at her feet, but she jumped and kicked him in the stomach. Were he not a Dwarf, the fight would have been hers. But Dwarves were built like the mountains they lived in and so she only succeeded in bruising her big toe. Thorin grabbed her ankle and he slammed her down onto the ground and pinned her with his body. They both breathed heavily into each other’s face. “Yield,” Thorin growled deep within his chest.  
Inez bared her teeth at him in a grin. “Never.” She quirked a pencil-thin eyebrow. “I love this new position, though. It’s very…” she rolled her hips suggestively against his “…intimate.”  
Thorin snarled and gripped a handful of her hair, yanking her head to one side. He saw pain flash in her eyes, but didn’t release her. “These insinuations and teases and infernal challenges will cease immediately. Or I will send you back to where you came from.”  
Inez shot him a look, her teasing done. She saw the promise in his eyes and tried to shrink away from him. Thorin saw the undiluted fear- could practically smell it rolling off her- and knew he had gone too far. He knew that she would be hunted and killed if sent back to her realm.  
Thorin could have impaled himself. “Miss Jackson, I…”  
“It would kill us,” she whispered. “They would take us; poke us and prod us and lock us away forever until we died. No sun, no stars, no air. Just four walls. And you would send us back to that?”  
Thorin sat up, letting go of her hair. “I did not mean such a thing. I was angry. Forgive me.”  
She watched him from her back for a long moment, before sitting up herself. Her eyes never left his. “We concede you to be the leader in this,” she said. “But if you threaten us again, I will let her feed on your soul and not flinch from your cold corpse.”  
Thorin felt himself rise to the threat, but clamped down on his retort. “We understand each other then?” He stood and held out a hand to her.  
Inez stood on her own and faced him. “Paciscor,” she hissed, squeezing his hand. “We have a deal.”

Balin was the first to notice Thorin and Inez return. Thorin had a nasty welt above his left eye and Inez’s lower lip was cut and bleeding. “What happened to you two?!”  
They glanced sideways at each other and quickly looked away.  
“I do believe this journey has gotten a bit easier to deal with,” Gandalf mused happily.  
“Abstine te a tuis musings in circuitu, sicut baculum iacendi, senex,” Inez sneered in Latin as she sat down beside Balin and started pulling out the bits of grass that had clung to her hair after rolling around with Thorin.  
“What’d she say?” Bilbo asked.  
The Wizard shrugged. “Her language is not native to Middle-Earth.”  
“Meaning you don’t know what she’s saying,” Fili deduced.  
Inez paused in her grooming and an evil smile touched her lips. “Yes…” she mused. “Hoc erit seiunctum.”

That night, Ori was sharpening his charcoal for tomorrow when Dwalin plucked himself down close by for his watch. Ori glanced sideways at the larger Dwarf and went red when he caught Dwalin’s eye. He looked down quickly, biting his lower lip. He glanced up to look for Inez, but she was already asleep beside the fire, the amber light throwing shadows over her calm face. Ori scooted closer to the fire, flipped open his book to a fresh page and began to sketch her.  
Dwalin had never been more thankful for his beard than just then when he felt the blood rush to his face when Ori caught him staring. For the life of him, Dwalin couldn’t understand how tiny freckles and dainty little braids could affect him so. Mahal’s Beard; he had thought himself strictly a ladies man! But no, enter Ori and Dwalin was as confused as a moon-addled rabbit!  
And it wasn’t as if Dwalin could say anything about his feelings. Yes, male partners were a common thing when the females made up only a third of the population, but Dwalin was of Durin’s line and such a thing was frowned upon in the ruling family. And Dori would challenge Dwalin to a duel if he found out about the indecent thoughts the warrior had about his younger brother. Nori wasn’t over-protective as Dori, but Dwalin did remember having to split up a brawl between the thief and a Firebeard who had tried to touch Ori a few years ago without his permission.  
Dwalin just had to please himself with sitting with his back to a rock and watching the camp and occasionally keeping a close eye on a sketching Ori. The little scribe was drawing Inez as she slept with one arm under her hand and the other slung low over her hip. Her pale face was thrown into amber light with a halo of her dark hair and shadows from the firelight. Beside her was the finished dancing couple. The princess had long ringlets and a three point tiara with a sweeping skirt that she held out as the prince held her. They had no faces, but the mystery added a bit of glamor to the piece.  
“Ori, you’ll hurt your eyes drawing in this light,” Dori fretted.  
Dwalin saw Ori’s jaw clench and his eyes flash with irritation. The young Dwarf said nothing, but slammed his book shut and lay down on his bed roll with his back to his brother. Dori looked shocked by the attitude and Nori snickered around his pipe. Dwalin huffed a sigh and shook his head, resigned to a night of watch.


	13. Redemption: Chapter 13

It was raining.  
Only Inez was pleased with this. As soon as the first drops started to fall, she jumped off Xena, threw the reigns to Bofur and trekked on ahead to lead the way through the bit of wood they traveled through.  
“How can she be so happy?” Kili demanded as it seemed to them that the girl was skipping!  
“Vitulamen thrive in the rain,” Gandalf huffed. “It gives them energy.”  
“Won’t she catch cold?” Bilbo asked.  
The Wizard shrugged. “I don’t think that’s a problem.”  
“We don’t get sick,” Inez called over her shoulder. “Vitulamen have more stamina than any being. And Anima are immune to all but the most vile of diseases.”  
“Bloody perfect race, that’s what she is,” Nori grunted as rain dripped into his eyes.  
“Mr Gandalf!” Dori called up. “Can’t you do something about tis deluge?”  
“It is raining, master Dwarf,” Gandalf replied. “And it will continue to rain until the rain is done! If you wish to change the weather of the world, I suggest you find yourself another Wizard.”  
“Are there any?” Bilbo asked. “Other Wizards?”  
“There are five of us. The greatest of our Order is Saruman the White. And then there are the two Blue’s…” He hummed. “Do you know, I’ve quite forgotten their names.”  
“And who is the fifth?”  
“Why, Radagast the Brown.”  
“Is he a great Wizard or is he…more like you?”  
Inez threw back her head and laughed heartily. Gandalf glared at the back of her head. “I think he is a very great Wizard. In his own way. He is a gentle soul; prefers the company of animals to that of people. He keeps a watchful eye on the forests to the East. And a good thing, too, for evil will always seek to corrupt all that is good and green in this world.”

That night they camped against a rock wall beside a gorge. Inez said little; her energy from before had disappeared with the rain. She merely sat between Balin and Dwalin, whittling away at her new project; a tiny bust of a woman. She hummed softly to herself, so intent on her work it was subconsciously. It wasn’t until Bofur pulled out his flute and started mimicking her that she looked up in surprise.  
“It’s a good tune, lass,” Bofur said.  
Inez inclined her head, a small smile lifting the corner of her mouth. “Didn’t realize I was doing it. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you like it.”  
“Oh?”  
Inez shook her head. “Insider joke, I’m afraid.”  
Who wouldn’t like Howard Shore?  
Savages.

Thorin noticed Inez sleeping just mere inches from where he sat. He watched her from half-closed eyes, taking in her dark form. She used her jacket and pack as a pillow, her dark hair pulled over her shoulder. Her back was to him, but he could just imagine the look of sleepy serenity on her face. Her side rose and fell with each breath and her left foot would occasionally twitch, nearly flicking the back of Bifur’s head.  
“What was that?” he heard Bilbo ask in response to a small shriek.  
“Orcs,” Kili muttered.  
“Orcs?” Bilbo repeated fearfully. Thorin sat up on high alert, reaching for his sword.  
“Throat-cutters. The lowlands are crawling with them,” Fili said. “There’ll be dozens of them out there.”  
“They strike in the wee small hours of the night,” Kili continued. “Quick and quiet; no screams. Just lots of blood.”  
Poor Bilbo was mortified. And that was what Fili and Kili were aiming for. They chuckled to each other.  
“You think that’s funny?” Thorin growled, getting up. “You think a night raid by Orcs is a joke?”  
Kili lowered his eyes. “We didn’t mean anything by it.”  
“No, you didn’t,” Thorin hissed. “You know nothing of the world.” He stomped off to the edge of the gorge. He heard Balin telling his nephews and Bilbo about the Battle of Azanulbizar. He closed his eyes, remembering that day. That horrible day.  
His grandfather and father fighting.  
The Pale Orc; Azog the Defiler.  
Thrór’s head rolling down to stop at Thorin’s feet.  
Remembering the fear and hate that filled him when Azog advanced upon him. Finding that oaken branch that saved his life. Taking that filth’s arm…  
“And I thought to myself then; there is one whom I could follow. There is one who I could call king.”  
Thorin turned back and found the Company awake and watching him. He inclined his head slightly before walking back to his bedroll.  
“And the Pale Orc?” Bilbo asked. “What happened to him?”  
“He slunk back into the ground from whence he came,” Thorin spat. “That filth died of his wounds long ago.” He glanced at Inez and found her facing him, pale eyes watching him. He expected to see some kind of pity there; the same look everyone gave him and his people. But instead he saw something else entirely.  
Understanding. And possibly respect?  
Inez lowered her gaze demurely and then closed her eyes and went back to sleep.


	14. Redemption: Chapter 14

Dwalin was riding beside Balin and Inez, only half listening to their conversation as he was a bit preoccupied with watching Ori and his brothers just ahead of them. He caught bits and pieces of their whispered, heated argument. The topic; Inez.  
“She’s dangerous,” Dori was saying.  
“Not to us,” Ori hissed.  
“She’s not even from this world! Ori, who knows what barbaric tendencies she has?”  
“The only barbaric things I’ve heard from her has been what humans have done to her people,” Nori pointed out. “Something I think we can relate to.”  
“She is not a Dwarf,” Dori snapped.  
Dwalin glanced over at Inez and saw that she was listening to the Ri brothers as well. She caught his eyes and her lips thinned into a thin line.  
“We are well aware of that fact, brother,” Nori sighed. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t be friendly to her. She saved Ori when we were looking the other way. She cares enough about him to suggest he defend himself with more than just a slingshot. I would think that would be enough for you to like her.”  
Dori huffed, but said nothing.  
“Dori,” Ori said carefully. “You’re always saying that I should reach out to people and make friends rather than sticking my nose in books. I like Miss Jackson; she’s unique. And I think she’s been lonely long enough.”  
Inez felt her heartstrings being pulled and shook herself violently before pulling on a disgruntled face and kicking Xena into a trot to the front of the Company. Lonely? She was never lonely. She had her darker side speaking to her all the time. But she did secretly yearn for human contact. Okay, so the group she was currently with was thirteen Dwarves, a Hobbit and a Wizard, but the principle was still there.  
But it was impossible for a Vitulaman to be lonely.  
Wasn’t it?

“We’ll camp here for the night!”  
Inez eyed the nearby wood warily as she dismounted her pony, her eyes darting their way every so often. Her stance was rigid, like an animal on high alert.  
“What is it?” Thorin asked.  
“We should move,” she answered slowly, still glaring into the woods. “Something is nearby. I can feel it.”  
Thorin turned away from her. “I care little for your witch powers.”  
Inez glared at him. “First of all; bite me. Secondly; what I feel is instinct, not magic. You would do well to listen to me.”  
But Thorin just rolled his eyes and walked away from her. Anima hissed at his back and Inez echoed it under her breath. The fool… Their shared statement was only bolstered when Gandalf stormed off muttering about the stubbornness of Dwarves.

Inez was just rolling out her bedroll when shit hit the fan.  
“Help! Thorin!” Fili and Kili burst into camp. “Trolls!”  
Inez shot up, whittling tools in hand. She looked furiously at Thorin, who demanded, “How many?”  
“Three,” Kili answered. “They took our ponies. Bilbo is trying to get them back, but…” An angry snarl drowned out the rest of his words. Inez rounded on Thorin.  
“I told you we should have moved!”  
Thorin glared at her. “Miss Jackson, you will stay behind and watch the camp. The rest of you, come with me!”  
A look so terrible and furious descended over the girl’s face. For a moment, it truly looked like she was going to kill that Dwarf king. But then she smirked and drawled, “It looks like Erebor will be without a king a while longer.”


	15. Redemption: Chapter 15

Inez waited most of the night, sharpening each of her whittling tools. When dawn was near at hand, she got up and walked the path the Dwarves took. Anima tracked their scent until an even stronger, vulgar scent shadowed theirs.  
Trolls.  
“Outstanding,” Inez muttered, pulling out a knife she had swiped off Fili. She kept following the path until she could hear the Dwarves and see the light of a campfire. Half of the Company was in bags while the rest was on a rotisserie spit over the fire. Three large, ugly trolls were squabbling about how to cook their newly caught meal.  
We should let them eat the loud one and Oakenshield, Anima suggested darkly.  
As annoying and rude as they are, Inez replied, we will save them. All of them. She crouched down in the bushes and moved slowly closer. Dwalin and Ori were on the spit and Balin was in a bag sandwiched between Thorin and Bilbo.  
Kill…  
“Wait!” Bilbo suddenly cried out. “You are making a terrible mistake!” He rolled to his feet. “I-I meant with the seasoning.”  
The fattest troll looked down at him. “What about the seasoning?”  
“Well, have you smelt them?” the Hobbit asked with a nervous chuckle. “You’re gonna need a lot of sage if you want to plate this lot up!”  
“Traitor!” Thorin roared.  
“Shut up!” another troll grumbled. “What would he know about cooking Dwarf?”  
Inez had to hand it to the little Baggins; he could make three trolls bicker. While everyone was looking the other way, she moved to where the Dwarves had dropped their weapons and she took one of Dwalin’s axes. It was heavy for her, but she gripped it all the same.  
“Oi!” the third troll had seen her.  
Inez straightened up with Dwalin’s ax and threw it at the troll. It went into his right shoulder and stuck there. The fat troll and his brother both dove for her. Inez dodged the fat one, but the other one back-handed her and she flew into a tree trunk. The back of her head collided with the bark and she collapsed in a heap.  
“Inez!” Balin wailed, struggling in his bag.  
“Son of a bitch.” She stirred and slowly got to her feet, holding the tree behind her for support.  
“Wot we got ‘ere then?” the first troll grunted, glaring at her.  
“Stomp on her!” the third troll whined picking Dwalin’s ax out of its shoulder and dropping it.  
“Hang on,” the fat troll said. “This one’s got a different smell than these Dwarves. Maybe she’ll be a good seasoning?”  
Oh fucking Hell…  
The trolls leered at her. “Go on, then, missy! Strip or I’ll crush the old one’s head.”  
Inez glared, but tore her jacket off. She unhooked her bustier and hesitated at her shirt. The short troll narrowed his eyes in warning. Stealing herself, Inez pulled off her shirt, leaving her only in her bra, jeans and boots.  
“And the rest,” the troll urged.  
“Leave her be!” Dwalin shouted.  
The troll grabbed Balin and held his hand over the Dwarf’s head in warning.  
“Alright!” Inez snapped. She glanced at the sky and noted the coming light of dawn. She could not wait for much longer and damn her if she was going to strip any more for these monsters. It was a tough decision, but Inez made it in a split second. Under the guise of untying her boots, Inez crouched and readied herself to fly at Balin to save him. And then she would attack the troll with her greatest weapon; her Anima side.  
Anima purred in bloodlust and got ready to take over.  
But before Inez could make her move, a voice boomed, “THE DAWN WILL TAKE YOU ALL!” Gandalf appeared with the sun right behind him. “TO STONE WITH YOU!”  
Inez surged forward and tackled Balin out of the troll’s grip before he was encased in stone. She looked up at Gandalf and felt a wave of utter relief.  
“Lassie?” Balin murmured, looking at her worriedly. “Are you alright?”  
Inez swallowed and closed off her expression. “Fine. You?”  
Balin’s brow furrowed. “Inez, I’m sorry that you…” Words failed him. The old Dwarf picked up her shirt and handed it to her. “You should have let them kill me.”  
Inez’s expression softened a fraction. “I could never do that to you.” She touched his cheek briefly then took her shirt and pulled it on. She picked up her bustier and hooked it back into place. Having tossed it in such a careless manner, the laces had become loose. Inez twisted her arms behind her and tried to fix the problem, but failed.  
Large hands replaced hers and Inez stiffened while Anima hissed softly. Thorin said nothing while he fixed her garment and left her in silence. He was aware of pale blue eyes following him like a predator stalking its prey.  
Bad analogy, he thought as he stalked up to Gandalf. “Where did you go, I wonder?”  
“To look ahead.”  
Thorin raised an eyebrow. “What brought you back?”  
“Looking behind.”  
Cheeky, robe-wearing, staff-toting…  
“A nasty business,” Gandalf said. “Still, you’re all in one piece.”  
“No thanks to your burglar,” Thorin grunted.  
Gandalf raised an eyebrow. “He had the nerves to play for time. None of the rest of you thought of that.”  
“Miss Jackson still took a risk,” Thorin pointed out. “And Balin nearly died for it.”  
“She was willing to submit to those trolls for his life.”  
Someone laughed behind them. Inez stood there, looking highly amused. “Submit?” she repeated with a dark giggle. “Old man, I have never submitted to anything a day in my life. I had a back-up plan.”  
Gandalf frowned. “One that would have been unpleasant.”  
She smiled and laughed again, hands on her hips. “You think I was going to suck out their souls? That would have merciful. I was going to cut their throats and have them watch each other bleed out.” She scowled suddenly. “No one threatens those I care about without paying penance!”


	16. Redemption: Chapter 16

The smell of the cave troll was revolting. Just standing a few feet from the entrance was enough to make the stomach roll.  
Inez stared down into the cave. “Okay…” she said slowly. “Who wants to go into the scary, dark, smelly cave first?”  
“Are you opting out of doing something brave?” Kili teased her.  
Inez shook her head and pointed down into the tunnel. “That’s not brave. That’s stupidity.”  
“So you’re asking someone to be stupid first,” Fili said.  
“Yes.”  
Gandalf came to stand by her side. “It should be fairly safe.” He shoved her inside. She cried out and disappeared.  
Balin glared at the Wizard. “Was that really nessicary?”  
“Inez,” Ori called anxiously. “Inez, are you alright?”  
There was a beat of silence in which Thorin was ready to skewer the Wizard. And then, “Yeah. I’m fine. Damn Wizard…”  
The whole Company let out sighs of relief.  
“What do you see?” Gloin asked.  
“Not much,” was the answer. “Just some gold coins and I think weapons and…” Again silence.  
“And what?” Thorin called.  
“F.M.L.!” she shrieked. She came pelting out of the cave, covered in web. “There are Goddamn shrunken heads down there!” she said shrilly, eyes wide and breathing fast. Balin put an arm around her shoulders comfortingly.  
“Well, I think it’s relatively safe,” Gandalf said cheerfully and walked into the cave. “Come along, Inez.”  
She looked up from picking web out of her hair and glared after the Wizard. “Or not!”  
“Inez Jackson, get down here now!”  
“Come on,” Thorin snapped, leading the way after Gandalf.  
Dwalin placed a hand on Inez’s shoulder. “Let’s go, lass. The heads can’t harm ye.”  
“Be careful what you touch down here,” Gandalf warned.  
Inez paused and stared at a pair of shrunken heads hanging by their hair. She shook herself and muttered, “They’re not real. They’re not real. They are not real.”  
Thorin rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Whatever keeps her from being sick…  
Bofur, Gloin and Nori were immediately drawn to the treasure strewn on the ground. “Seems a shame to just leave it lying around,” Bofur mused. “Anyone could take it.”  
“Agreed,” Gloin said. “Nori, get a shovel.”  
Thorin was looking through a stash of knives and swords. A magnificent one caught his eye and he picked it up. “These swords were not made by trolls.”  
Gandalf picked up one for himself. “Nor were they forged by any smith among Men. These were forged in Gondolin; by the High Elves!”  
Thorin’s lip curled and he went to put the sword back, but Gandalf snapped, “You could not ask for a finer blade!”  
Inez shrugged. “If you don’t want it, I’ll take it…” As soon as her fingers made contact with the blade, a silver light slammed her into the cave wall and she fell forward with a crunch on some old bones. Dwalin shouted and hurried to her side. “Lassie?”  
Instead of crying or even moaning, Inez lifted her face and laughed. “That was fun. Can I do it again?”  
Gandalf shook his head. “I told you…”  
“…be careful what you touch,” she replied, getting gingerly to her feet. “How come you can touch weapons, but I can’t? It’s not fair.” She smiled provocatively. “Girls need toys, too.”  
Gandalf smirked. “Hm. I believe it is only Elvish craft you cannot touch. The fact that you are from another world and…” He trailed off, but Inez knew what he was getting at.  
“Figures,” she muttered. Then she reached out and picked up a very Dwarvish ax. Thorin started to shout at her, but she wasn’t thrown backwards. Inez picked up the ax’s twin and twirled them around a few times. “Oh ho, ho,” she chuckled. “I’m in love.”  
Dwalin inspected the handles of the axes. “No family sigil,” he grumbled. “Not even the marks of a smith. These are unclaimed.”  
“They are now,” Inez said obstinately, taking the weapons back. She frowned slightly. “Why do people name weapons?”  
Dwalin looked pleasantly surprised at the question. “Usually weapons are named for their great deeds in war.”  
She eyed his twin axes. “What are yours called?”  
Okay. The girl was becoming his favorite now. “Grasper and Keeper.”  
Her pale eyes sparkled. “Cool! Wait, why?”  
Dwalin took out his axes. “This one grasps your soul. This one keeps it. It’s a bit of a joke between Balin and myself.”  
The admiration and worship in Inez’s eyes vanished. Her expression closed off and her body went stiff. Gandalf winced and was about to say something when Inez just walked out of the cave. Bofur, Gloin and Nori watched her leave and then looked at Dwalin.  
“Oops,” the warrior-Dwarf grunted sheepishly.


	17. Redemption: Chatper 17

Back out in the fresh air, Inez inspected her new found weapons. They had been crafted well, made of a light-weight metal that made it easy for her to swing than Dwalin’s iron forged ones. Nori whistled appreciatively when he saw her with them. “Ye cut an impressive figure there, Miss Jackson. I’d hate to mess with you.”  
She smirked without humor. “You couldn’t handle me.”  
The cunning Dwarf chuckled. “Normally I would love to accept that kind of challenge from a beautiful girl like you. But I don’t think I’d live long enough to enjoy my spoils.”  
“Nori!” Ori admonished.  
Thorin gritted his teeth when he saw that Inez liked- actually liked- the banter between herself and the thieving Dwarf. Nori had just likened her to a whore and she was smiling at him! Damn this woman and her twisted mind!  
Inez caught Thorin glaring at her and quirked an eyebrow. Her lips puckered just for an instant and Thorin suddenly felt very hot. He turned away from the Vitulaman wench and tried to focus on the Elven blade he now possessed.  
He wished he could possess Inez Jackson.  
No! She was a nuisance!  
A sexy nuisance. All curves and hidden muscle…  
Muscle that rippled when she held those Dwarven axes.  
Fuck! Now both of his inner voices were against him!

“Miss Jackson.”  
One wrong word and I will deep fry this mother hen, Anima snarled.  
Inez chuckled inwardly as she faced Dori with an impassive face. “Yes?”  
To her surprise and that of those watching, Dori bowed to her. “I apologize for my behavior towards you. You have done nothing to deserve my ire and animosity. You have saved our lives twice now. I humbly ask for your forgiveness.”  
Inez blinked at him for several seconds. Then she stepped forward, aligning their shoulders. “If I had any forgiveness to give, it would be yours. However, this does not mean we are friends.”  
Dori straightened up. “Of course not. That relationship is between you and my brothers.”  
Inez smirked. “And if I continue training Ori with throwing knives?”  
“I would not stop you. But for any and every bruise or cut you give him, I shall give you.”  
The Vitulaman chuckled. “I look forward to it.” She walked away.  
Nori stepped up to Dori. “That went well.” He patted his shoulder. “I’m proud of you.”  
“I still don’t like her.”  
Nori sighed.  
Suddenly a howl ripped through the air. Thorin looked around on high alert.  
“Is that a wolf?” Bilbo squeaked. “Are there wolves out here?”  
“Wolf?” Bofur said. “No, that is not a wolf!”  
Inez heard the low growl behind them and spun around. A startled cry escaped her lips as she beheld a giant hound-like creature large enough for her to ride pounce at them. Kili shot it down and Thorin cut it down with his new sword. Another came up behind the Dwarf-king and Dwalin introduced its head to his ax.  
“What the fuck are these things?” Inez demanded.  
“Warg scouts,” Thorin said. “Which means an Orc pack is not far behind!”  
“Orc pack?!” Bilbo repeated.  
Gandalf came striding forward, looking thunderous. “Who did you tell about your quest beyond your kin?”  
“No one,” Thorin snapped.  
“Who did you tell?!” the Wizard roared.  
“No one, I swear,” Thorin repeated. “What in Durin’s name is going on?”  
“You’re being hunted.”  
Anima thrashed around unhappily and Inez gripped her new weapons anxiously. She knew what being hunted meant; running. Lots and lots of running.  
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Dwalin said.  
“We can’t!” Ori piped up. “The ponies bolted! Only Xena stayed.”  
“Then we go on foot,” Bofur said.  
“These are Gundabad Wargs,” Gandalf said. “They will outrun us.”  
“Well then…”  
They turned to look at Inez, who was smiling softly.  
“You’ll need some live bait.”

This is so stupid.  
No arguments from me. Inez kicked Xena forward and they raced out of the forest. Suddenly a pack of Wargs bolted after them. Inez risked a glance over her shoulder and spotted a few Orcs riding the beasts.  
“Now that’s a face not even a mother could love,” she jeered.  
“Kill her!” the Orc ordered.  
Inez led Xena over the hills and around rock formations. Twice and Orc had shot arrows at her. One missed her head by inches and the other got caught in a saddlebag.  
“Come on!” she shouted. “Old women can shoot better than you!”  
She couldn’t see where Gandalf was leading the Company. She was surprised to feel a slight twinge of apprehension for some of them. Ori, Bilbo, Dwalin and Balin; they had somehow wheedled their way into her conscious- when did she have that?- and blast it, but she cared what happened to them!  
A huge weight slammed into her and Inez let out a cry as she was thrown off her horse. It was an Orc. Inez didn’t even think about it; she was too scared, too angry and too much out of her element.  
She released Anima.

Inez and the Orc tumbled down into the tunnel. The Orc roared, but it was drowned by Inez’s own cry. She slammed the Orc down and stretched her mouth open wide. For one, wild moment, Thorin thought she was about to kiss the damn thing. Then a black kind of smoke left the Orc’s mouth and Inez sucked it into her. The Orc twitched a few times then went utterly still as Inez took all of the strange black smoke.  
She jerked upright, still straddling the beast, and gasped in air. Her pale skin was flushed and her pupils were barely pinpricks in her ethereal pale blue eyes. Inez collapsed on her side and started convulsing violently. Gandalf surged forward and gripped her shoulders tightly.  
“Inez!” he said sharply. “Inez, look at me!” He placed a hand on her forehead and she immediately went still. Unnervingly still.  
“What in Durin’s name was that?!” Dwalin bellowed.  
Gandalf gathered Inez in his arms and stood. “The foolish girl sucked its soul out,” the Wizard sighed. “She has never known such evil before and it was too much for her.”  
“I-Is she dead?” Ori squeaked.  
“She will awaken, Master Ori. But now we must get out of here.”  
“There’s a pathway here!” Bofur called at the very back. “I cannot see where it leads. Do we follow it or not?”  
“It would be wise if we were to do so,” Gandalf said and led the way.  
“Give me the girl,” Thorin growled. “I will carry her.”

The descent into Rivendell was a quick one; so worried about Inez were they. The Dwarves didn’t see the beauty of the realm at all, nor would they have cared under normal circumstances. Bilbo would have been staring open-mouthed at the magnificence around him, but the poor fellow was just beside himself with worry.  
They reached a courtyard and a dark-haired Elf met with them.  
“Mithrandir!”  
Gandalf smiled. “Lindir.”  
“It was said you had crossed the Bruinen,” the Elf said in his native tongue.  
“I must speak with Lord Elrond,” Gandalf said. “And a member of our Company is gravely hurt.”  
Lindir raised an eyebrow and glanced at the Dwarves. “My Lord Elrond is not here.”  
“Well then where is he?” Gandalf barked in irritation.  
Lindir opened his mouth, but a hunting horn cut over him. Gandalf and the others turned to see several Elves on horses galloping towards them. Elrond was at the front.  
“Gandalf!” the Elf Lord called merrily and reigned in his horse.  
“Lord Elrond,” Gandalf greeted. “My friend, where have you been?”  
“We slew a number of Orcs near the Hidden Pass,” Elrond replied as he dismounted. “Strange for Orcs to come so near our borders. Something- or someone- drew them here.”  
“Ah, that may have been us,” Gandalf said a bit sheepishly. His expression turned pleading. “My friend, one of our number is injured. Can you look after her?”  
Thorin stepped forward uneasily with Inez still passed out in his arms. Elrond’s eyes widened and he looked at Gandalf in shock. “Is that…”  
“Yes,” Gandalf whispered. “She drained an Orc.”  
Elrond nodded. “I know little of her kind, but I shall do what I am able.” He turned to Thorin. “Permit me to take her, son of Thrain. I will heal your companion.”  
Reluctantly, Thorin let Inez go.

She was sleeping deeply now as Elrond finished examining her.  
“Let her sleep for now,” the Elf Lord said.  
“When will she be able to continue the journey?” Thorin demanded.  
Elrond raised an elegant eyebrow at the Dwarf King. “She has been through quite the ordeal, Master Oakenshield. It maybe that she will never fully recover.”  
Thorin felt his insides clench painfully as the Elf Lord left him alone with Inez. He walked over to the healing bed she was on and sat down in a chair beside her. “Wake up,” he whispered. “Wake up for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, I get so turned on in BBC North and South when John Thornton says 'look back. look back at me'. I just had to put it in here somehow. and I did!  
> *squee*


	18. Redemption: Chapter 18

Inez woke up feeling like her entire body was made of wood. Just opening her eyes was a chore. She tried to call out, but all that came from her throat was a parched wheeze.  
“Miss Inez? Gandalf! Gandalf; she’s waking up!”  
All she could see was sterile white. Inez started to panic. Sterile white meant experiments and doctors and… She couldn’t go back. She had sworn to die before she went back there!  
“Inez.” That was Gandalf’s voice. He spoke to her in a strange language that had her pounding heart slowing and her mind relaxing. She was safe.  
“G-Gandalf…” She blinked and the Wizard’s face swam into clarity. Inez stared at him, fighting to control herself. “What happened?”  
The Wizard sighed and stroked back her hair. “You sucked out an Orc’s soul, my dear. That evil very nearly killed you. But, here you are, all in one piece and safe from harm.”  
Inez clenched her jaw and was furious with herself. “I killed someone.”  
“You killed an Orc who would have killed you had you not acted.” Thorin stood behind Gandalf and Bilbo. His arms were folded in front of him and he watched her.  
Inez closed her eyes and shook her head. “You don’t know what it’s like.”  
“I know what it’s like to kill,” Thorin began.  
“Do you know what it’s like to suck out a soul?” she demanded. “In that short time you’re connected to them. You see all of their memories, feel their emotions. I swore I would never give in to my Anima side. Because when I kill someone, I kill a part of myself.”  
“You killed a monster,” Thorin growled.  
Inez opened her eyes and gave him a deadly cold look. “That might help you sleep at night, Thorin Oakensheild, but it can never help me.”

Foolishness.  
Thorin stomped into the area the Elves had given to him and his men and sat down in a chair moodily. Balin raised an eyebrow and asked cautiously, “How is the lass?”  
Thorin snorted. “Alive. But she believes that she has committed murder.”  
“It was an Orc,” Gloin scoffed.  
“It’s not murder, it’s a service,” Kili agreed.  
“She’s a lass,” Dori said. “They’re sensitive about these things.”  
“Shut up, Dori,” Nori snapped. “This was her first kill; of course she’s going to be squeamish. We all were, even Dwalin.”  
“Aye,” Dwalin grunted, shocking most of them. “Leave the lass alone.”  
“Maybe what she did is really painful for her,” Ori suggested, looking up from his journal. “I mean, what do any of us know about…soul sucking?”

Inez was eating a bowl of bread pudding when Ori stuck his head in her room. “Would you like some company?”  
She smiled slightly. “I wouldn’t say no.”  
Ori came in, journal in hand and sat down in the chair next to her bed. “How do you feel?”  
“Not as bad I could be feeling,” she admitted. “Orcs are disgusting.”  
Ori pondered on his next question. “Do you…actually…taste them?”  
Inez shook her head. “Not the body. It’s all of the…emotions, feelings and state of mind. When I said that Thorin smelled of heartache, I meant it literally. I can sense the state of mind the person is in. I can smell their emotions. It’s come in handy several times.”  
“So you know their personality.”  
“Personality, yes. It’s their individuality that is hidden from me.”  
“How so?”  
Inez stared at him for a moment. “When I first met you, I knew you were shy and timid and very sweet and that you sometimes get annoyed. I did not know, however, know that your annoyance was aimed towards your brother Dori or that you are quite the bookworm. Or that you are quite the perfect shot with a throwing knife. I didn’t know the important things.”  
Ori blushed and ducked his head. “You think I’m sweet?”  
Inez nodded. “I think you’re very sweet. Any girl will be lucky.”  
Ori chuckled weakly and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not really girls I’m into.” He blushed slightly at the admission. “It’s really…men. Big, muscly lads with…”  
Inez took a guess. “Scruffy beards?”  
Ori went as red as a cherry, but nodded.  
Inez’s eyes sparkled happily. “You mean WarriorScribe is actually a thing?”  
Ori blinked. “What?”  
“Uh, I mean,” Inez back-tracked. “Okay, you know where I come from this place is fantasy, right? Well, some people make couples out of characters and give the pair a name. You and Dwalin are WarriorScribe, or sometimes Dwori.”  
Ori’s eyebrows rose. “Dwori?” He started laughing. “That’s funny!” His laughter proved infectious and Inez started giggling, too. “What other couples are there?”  
Inez smirked and scooted closer to him. “Okay, but you cannot tell anyone! Or they will kill me.”  
“My lips are sealed,” Ori promised.  
Inez grinned. “Good boy. Okay, so the most popular is Bagginsheild; Thorin and Bilbo.”  
His eyes popped. “No way!”  
“Yeah way! Then there’s Durincest; which is mainly Fili and Kili, but there have been some with Thorin thrown in.”  
“But they’re family!”  
“Yeah, doesn’t really stop people,” she sighed. “And then there is some gender-bending.”  
Ori’s eyes were nearly popping out of his head.  
“Yeah, they switch guys into girls. But I think it’s only been Bilbo so far.”  
Ori fell onto the floor rolling with laughter. “Th-that is r-ridicules!”  
“What’s ridicules?” Dwalin stomped in. “Ori, what are you laughing at?”  
“I’m telling him stuff from home,” Inez said with an innocent face that the warrior-Dwarf instantly mistrusted. “Ori, dude, pull yourself together.”  
He’s charming.  
Inez fell silent at Anima’s purr. Why do you think that?  
He’s like a puppy, she laughed. Or a kitten. Yes, a kitten. Oakenshield’s young kin are the puppies.  
“Inez?” Ori’s voice broke through her internal conversation. “Are you alright?”  
Inez shook herself. “Yeah. Sorry, just got lost in thought.”

“Are you sleeping?”  
Inez opened on eye lazily and smiled at Balin. “Hi. No, I’m too wired to sleep. But it’s so beautiful here. Elrond thought it might help the healing process to move around a bit.”  
The old Dwarf sat beside her and carefully put an arm around her. “You know there isn’t anything wrong with killing an Orc, don’t you?”  
Inez frowned. “You cannot understand. None of you can.”  
Balin was silent for a moment. “I knew a girl like you once. She, too, found it hard to come to terms with taking a life. The guilt she felt consumed her until she was near mad.” He looked at her and gave her a small nudge. “Tithfus was just like you, lass. She was alone in the world for a long time. Please do not end like how she did.”  
Balin stood up and was nearly out the door when Inez called, “What was she? To you?”  
The old Dwarf faced her and there were tears in his eyes. “I thought of her as my daughter.” And then he was gone.


	19. Redemption: Chapter 19

“She wants to talk.”  
The Dwarves, Gandalf and Bilbo looked up to see Inez walking carefully onto the trellis they had set up camp on. The Dwarves didn’t care if there were soft beds in the rooms; there was no way they would split up in the middle of an Elven establishment.  
Balin hopped to his feet and hurried to help the girl who was using the wall to stand. “Lass, you should be resting…”  
“Who wants to talk?” Thorin growled.  
Inez faced him squarely in the eyes. “Anima.” Balin helped her into a chair and she took a deep breath. “She does not trust you. She does not trust as easily as I do.”  
“Didn’t think you did, lass,” Bofur quipped.  
“Why do you tell us this now?” Thorin asked.  
Inez rubbed her neck. “She wishes to speak with you.” She caught Gandalf’s eyes with her own pale ones. “She is different from me. She is anger, passion and hunger. I will try my best to hold her back but if she attacks, do not hesitate to take us down.”  
The Wizard nodded. “Very well.”  
Inez looked at Thorin. “Are you ready?”  
Thorin nodded and she closed her eyes and her head lolled to the side. A minute passed. Suddenly, she sucked in a breath through her nose and lifted her head, moving it from side to side. Her eyes flashed open, somehow paler and colder than they had been.  
“Ooh,” she cooed and stood up, stretching her arms above her head and curving her back. “It gets so cramped up there in our head.” She lowered her arms and smiled at them all. “Boys.”  
Thorin stood and faced her. “Anima, I presume.”  
The girl smirked. “Oakenshield. You’re much bigger now that I can see you with my own eyes.” She leaned forward and inhaled. “Mm... Your soul smells fantastic! You must have shed many tears for it to smell like that.”  
Thorin didn’t know how to respond to that. Anima sauntered around the Dwarves, pausing at Ori to ruffle his hair with a playful grin. Dwalin stood up and glared down at her. Anima stood toe to toe with the big warrior and stared into his eyes.  
“She likes you,” the girl said suddenly, snapping her gaze from Dwalin and back to Thorin. “And, somehow, you’ve earned her trust.”  
“Jealous?” Dwalin taunted.  
Anima faced him again and leered at him. “Don’t test me, Grumpy,” she warned in a sing-song voice. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Your soul may smell of blood and adrenaline, but that won’t stop me from feeding.”  
“I would advise on not making threats, my dear,” Gandalf said merrily, but his eyes flashed dangerously. “Inez has given me permission to use force.”  
Anima grimaced and released Dwalin. She fixed the Wizard with an innocent expression. “Just teasing.” She frowned and sniffed the old man. She balked, suddenly scared. “You! You have no soul! How is that possible?!”  
Gandalf looked immensely pleased with himself. “Oh, I have a soul, my dear. I’m just not foolish enough to keep it where everyone else does.”  
Anima bared her teeth at him. A hand touched her shoulder. She shied away from Balin, who smiled kindly at her. “Please have seat, miss. You must be famished.”  
Anima eyed him suspiciously. “She likes you a lot, old one. She was going to set me loose on those trolls for you.” She shuddered. “They smelled of rot. I wouldn’t have fed on them. Just cut their throats.”  
Balin cleared his throat. “Thank goodness for the Wizard, then, eh?” It seemed to Balin that this part of their fair companion was more animalistic; all instinct and predatory. But there was a little girl underneath and he wanted to get to know that part. “Would you like some tea?”  
Anima pouted. “I can’t eat. Only souls.” Her face turned a delicate shade of pink. “And berry smoothies.”  
“I don’t know about smoothies,” Balin said slowly. “But there is a lovely brew of berry tea here. Will that do?”  
Anima nodded slowly and moved with the old Dwarf to watch him prepare her a cup. She watched him with curiosity, curling up in a chair and hugging her knees to her chest. When Balin offered the cup to her, she accepted it after only a moment’s hesitation. She sniffed the brew once and then took a small sip. After a moment, she said, “Well, it’s no smoothie… But it is adequate.”

The next morning, Inez bounded out of bed and to the area where the Dwarves slept. Anima had promised to behave and Gandalf had been on hand, but she was still worried that something bad had happened. However, when she skidded to a halt the Dwarves were already eating breakfast.  
“Good morning, Miss Jackson,” Fili greeted.  
Inez stared at them. “What did she do?”  
Oh, thanks. I told you I’d behave.  
“Not much, to be honest,” Gandalf replied, pouring himself some tea.  
Dwalin cleared his throat pointedly.  
“Oh, hush! You intimidated her!”  
Inez closed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair. “I am so, so sorry.”  
Dwalin huffed. “It was nothing.” He eyes flicked to Ori before he returned to stuffing his face with egg.  
“She seemed like a child to me,” Nori put in. He twisted around in his seat to look at her. “Is she always like that?”  
“It’s a result of my keeping her locked up,” Inez replied.  
“She hasn’t had the opportunity to flourish,” Balin said.  
“She is the very worst of me,” Inez replied. “The Spirit half of a Vitulamen is very raw being. They are envious, lustful, wrathful, gluttonous, prideful and greedy. Anima is dangerous. I don’t know what could happen if I let her slip into control.”  
“Then why last night?” Thorin asked.  
“To lower her curiosity of you. Like you said; she’s a child. Once the novelty of you wears off, she will ignore you. And besides, Gandalf was here. His soul is hidden from me and therefore he is safe and I…” She trailed off, looking for the right word.  
Thorin looked at her. Could she really be learning to trust them? If she could trust, then she could…  
“…respect how powerful he is.”  
And mission aborted.


	20. Redemption: Chapter 20

They left Rivendell the following morning. Lord Elrond had given Inez a clean bill of health and Thorin was anxious to reach the Misty Mountains before the week was out. As the Company climbed out of the Hidden Valley, Inez caught Bilbo looking longingly back at the Elf house.  
“Wouldn’t it be amazing to live there?” the Hobbit murmured, noticing the Vitulaman next to him. “So peaceful and elegant. And all that culture…”  
“Master Baggins, I suggest you keep up!” Thorin called back. “You as well, Miss Jackson.”  
Bilbo sighed and they hurried to catch up with the others. “Do Vitulamen have any traditions, Inez?”  
She looked at him in surprise and then ducked her head. “Before the humans started to Institutionalize us, we had several traditions, but I cannot remember most. Elijah and I couldn’t practice anything for fear of discovery. However, we did wear laurels and face veils on the New Year.”  
“Why?”  
Inez frowned, straining her mind to remember. “The face veils were worn by the women during celebrations very long ago. The laurels…” Her voice trailed off for a long moment. “Laurel leaves purify the soul. Our other halves use the magical properties to bring peace to the area around us.”  
“If that is true,” Fili began, slowing so that he walked beside her, “then why did the humans discriminate against you?”  
“Because fear is a fiercer driving force in the hearts of men.”

It is true that Vitulamen love the rain. Any wetland was paradise to them. However, being pelted by rain continuously while climbing a treacherous rocky mountain path with a severe long drop on one side did tend dampen- pardon the pun- one’s views on the matter.  
“We are going to drown out here!” Inez shouted over several Dwarf heads up to where Thorin led the group. The thick curtain of rain and howling wind carried her voice so that they barely heard her.  
“I have to agree with the lass!” Balin bellowed. “Thorin, we must find shelter!”  
Thunder rolled mightily than before, but no lightning had accompanied it. It happened again and again. And then Inez realized that it wasn’t thunder. With a startled cry, she pointed at the opposite mountain. Except, it wasn’t a mountain. It was a stone giant!  
Dwalin saw it too and boomed, “Look out!”  
“Well, bless me!” Bofur gasped. “The legends are true!”  
Suddenly the ground underneath Inez shook and she pressed herself against the rock wall along with Dwalin, Ori, Bofur, Fili, Bombur, Bifur and Bilbo. We were on the knee of a second giant!  
“Oh fuck my life!” Inez wailed as she wobbled precariously towards the edge. Dwalin reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back.  
“Hold on!” the warrior Dwarf shouted.  
The stone giant pulled itself from the true face of the mountain and squared off against the other giant. The first giant picked up a chunk of rock and threw it at the second. It knocked its head clean off. The giant crumpled, its knee slamming into the mountainside.  
And the rest of the Company was forced to look on in horror.  
“No!” Thorin shouted. “No, Fili!” Inez…  
Thorin and Balin hurried around the bend and relief washed over them like a massive wave. They were safe! Fili and Ori were trying to pull Bombur to his feet, Ori and Bifur were shaking their heads and Inez was pulling Dwalin up and pounding his shoulder.  
Balin grabbed Inez by her shoulders and inspected her for any injuries. “Are you hurt? Inez, are you hurt?!”  
“I’m fine,” she groaned. “Just bruised. And cold. And wet.” She glanced over Balin’s shoulder at Thorin. “Seriously, can we find shelter now?”  
Balin crushed her in a hug. “I thought I lost you.”  
Inez softened and returned the embrace. “Takes more than a mountain to kill me.”  
“Where’s Bilbo?” Bofur suddenly asked, looking wildly around. “Where’s the Hobbit?”  
Oh no.  
“There!” Dwalin shouted, pointing over the edge to where Bilbo was clinging to dear life. “Get him!”  
Ori and Bofur both dived to reach the Hobbit, but he was too far down. Then Thorin swung over the edge and gripped Bilbo’s arm and hoisted him closer to their hands. But as soon as Bilbo was safe, Thorin’s boot slipped on the wet stone and he jerked wildly, aiming for the chasm below.  
Inez shot forward, skidding on her belly and catching Thorin’s hand with both of her own. His entire weight strained her arm muscles, making her grit her teeth with effort. Thorin dangled there for one, heart-wrenching moment. He stared up at the young woman that was his only tether between life and a sudden, jarring death. Her face was screwed up as she fought to hold him. Her muscles strained as she tried to pull him up, but she wasn’t strong enough.  
Inez wasn’t strong enough.  
Then her eyes flew open and they flashed white, startling Thorin. With a snarl, she pulled him up four inches before Dwalin and Dori burst forward to help her. Ori jumped forward and wrapped his arms around Inez’s waist and pulled her back. All five of them sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily.  
“You guys are heavy,” Inez panted, her pale blue eyes hidden behind her eyelids.  
“Well, you’re a twig,” Ori teased.  
“I thought we lost our burglar,” Dwalin laughed once.  
Thorin stood up and glared at the still-shaking Hobbit. “He’s been lost ever since he walked out his door. He should have never come.” He moved back from the edge, ignoring the death glare Inez shot him.  
“There’s a cave back here!” Nori called. “It’s big enough for all of us!”  
“Let’s get out of this wretched rain,” Kili said, bolting inside with Fili, Ori and Bifur.  
Balin pulled Inez to her feet and they entered the dry cave. Inez broke off from the Company to stalk to the back of the cave where Thorin was rolling out his bedroll. The back of the cave was hidden partially by a wall of rock. She walked behind it and started stripping off her wet jacket and shirt and started wringing them out.  
“What are you doing?” Thorin asked, trying and failing to keep his eyes off her exposed skin.  
“You shouldn’t be so hard on the Hobbit,” she murmured.  
Thorin sighed and shook his head. “I know. I spoke in anger.”  
“You always seem angry.” Inez smirked over her shoulder at him. “You should work on that.”  
Thorin watched her openly as she unclasped her corset and snapped it out a few times to dry it. Her skin was pale, her back had a slender curve to it under her drying dark locks. “Thank you for catching me.”  
She glanced over her shoulder at him and smiled slightly. “You’re welcome, majesty. Now kindly turn your head before Balin catches you staring.”

They sat opposite each other in the stark white room of their mind. They were identical, but for their eyes. Hers were a pale blue while the twin was nearly white. And while her hair was long and wavy, she had pulled the dark locks into two girlish pigtails.  
“I know you don’t trust them,” she said, “but we have nowhere else to go. We have been over this!”  
“It goes against our nature,” the twin hissed, hands clenching on her knees. “Why should we care about their mountain and gold? Such trivial matters have never entranced you before.”  
“I don’t care for the gold or the mountain.”  
“Then why are we still following them? Why didn’t we stay in Rivendell? At least there we could have made something for ourselves; you could have started welding again or maybe even forge blades and whatever.” The twin looked away crossly. “You always had fun doing that.”  
She sighed and shook her head. “I know. We both did. I don’t know why I’m following the Dwarves… I’m just trusting my gut.”  
The twin looked up sharply and opened her mouth to retort…  
“Up! Wake up!”  
A large hand roughly shook Inez awake from her dreams and she blinked blurrily, her muscles tightening when she heard the urgency in Thorin’s voice. Suddenly the floor opened up under them and the entire Company was falling through the air, crashing and sliding down large tunnels before crash landing into a cage made of…bones. Inez landed on top of Nori and Bombur and then was crushed beneath Dwalin, Grasper slicing her upper arm a bit.  
“Goblins!” Gloin roared.  
Inez suddenly landed on the ground on all fours. She hissed menacingly and reached for her twin axes. But before she could swing at the hideous creatures charging them, she was jumped from behind and her weapons yanked out of her grasp. A goblin leered at her as it pulled back her left arm painfully, cackling when she cried out. Dwalin appeared and punched the beast away, shoving Inez into the middle of the Company as they were herded down, down, down to Goblin Town.


	21. Redemption: Chapter 21

The Goblin King was just…ew.  
There was no other word for him. He was…ew!  
“Who are these miserable persons?” he grumbled, peering at the Company.  
“Dwarves, your malevolence,” a goblin wheezed.  
“Dwarves?!”  
“Found ‘em on the front porch.”  
“Well, don’t just stand there!” the Goblin King roared. “Search them! Every crack, every crevice!”  
Dwalin saw two goblins jump at Ori and he saw red. He bellowed profanities and knocked the creatures away, but more jumped on top of him and he collapsed under the weight. Balin was doing his best to shield Inez from the wandering hands of the goblins, but there was just too many.  
“This one’s a female!”  
The Goblin King grinned. “Bring her forward!”  
Inez snarled as she was forced to her knees before the gigantic pile of pus. Anima struggled to gain control, but Inez shook her off and glared defiantly at the Goblin King.  
“What would a pretty thing like you be doing with a pack of dwarves?” the King grumbled. He sniffed her and snorted. “You don’t smell like anything I’ve ever encountered before.”  
“There are many dangers in this universe, goblin,” Inez growled. “Do you really think you’re one of them? You are beneath my kind.”  
He whacked her across the face with his staff. “Silence, you measly slut! Or I will unleash my men upon you.” He turned to the dwarves. “What you doing in these parts? Hmm?”  
Thorin locked eyes with Inez, cursing the blood that dripped from her mouth.  
“Very well,” the Goblin King said gleefully. “If they won’t talk, we’ll make them squawk!”  
Anima snarled and tried to claw her way into control. Sweat beaded on Inez’s brow as she strained to keep her darker side buried. This did not go unnoticed by the Dwarves. Or the Goblins.  
“I think this one is ready to break,” the Goblin King giggled. “If the correct amount of pressure is applied. Bring up the Mangler!” he called. “Bring up the Bone Breaker!” He leered at Inez. “We’ll start with the female!”  
“WAIT!” Thorin stepped forward, pushing Inez back amongst the Company. He noted her pale countenance and wondered what was wrong with her. Balin, on the other hand, had a pretty good guess.  
“Well, well, well,” the Goblin King laughed. “Look who it is! Thorin son of Thrain son of Thrór, King Under the Mountain.” He gave a large mock bow. “Oh, but I’m forgetting! You don’t have a mountain and you’re not a king which makes you…nobody really.” He chuckled. “I know someone who has put a pretty price on your head. An old enemy of yours. The Pale Orc astride a white Warg.”  
Thorin stared in horror. “Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago!”  
“So you think his defiling days are over, do you?” the Goblin King cackled. “We’ll see what you think when he’s tasting that delectable little lady you have there.”  
Inez shuddered despite herself and Balin wrapped his arms around her while Ori pressed against her. “We won’t let them touch you,” the young Dwarf whispered. “Inez, are you alright?”  
“Losing control,” she gasped out as the Goblin King began to sing a vicious song.  
Thorin heard her and grasped her hand. “Hold on, Inez. We can’t fight them all.”  
“Tell her that,” she moaned, her head lolling onto his fur covered shoulder. Thorin placed a hand on her head and prayed for a miracle.  
Suddenly there was a flash of bright light and a shockwave forced everyone to their backs. Inez groaned and curled up against Thorin while Anima yelped and shrank from the force of magic. Wait.  
Magic?  
“Take up arms.”  
Gandalf…  
“Fight!”  
The Dwarves were a flurry of movement, picking up their weapons and attacking the goblins before they could blink. Inez shoved herself to her feet and caught her axes that Bifur tossed to her. She hacked at the disgusted goblins, rage filling her and feeding Anima.  
“This way!” Gandalf shouted, leading them. Thorin caught Inez’s arm and pulled her with him. He wasn’t going to let her out of his sight. If she fell, he would lose himself, he knew that now. Seeing he on her knees before the Goblin King had sent a shock of fear through him and then again when she had been struck. And Anima wasn’t helping matters, fighting for control.  
The bridge they were on shuddered violently and then they were falling again. Kili nearly went over and Thorin had to release Inez to grab his nephew. They fell nearly two miles before landing with the bridge on top of them, yet somehow alive.  
“Well, that could’ve been worse,” Bofur joked weakly.  
“We’ve got to get out of here before they find us again,” Fili said.  
Thorin’s eyes searched frantically for the dark-haired girl among the Company, but didn’t see her. “Where is Inez?” he called.  
“Inez?” Balin shouted, worry clenching his heart. “Inez!”  
A pain-filled cry came from under the wreckage. A pale hand writhed around frantically, trying to grasp at anything. Thorin shouted and grabbed her hand. “Get this off of her quick!”  
Fili, Kili, Bofur and Dwalin gripped the wood and lifted. Inez was covered in dust and debris, a cut on her forehead that was bleeding a little too much. Balin helped Thorin pull her out and put an arm around her waist to support her as she wobbled.  
“Can you run?” Balin asked.  
Inez coughed and swayed. “I can try…” Her eyes rolled up into her head and she went limp. Thorin and Balin held her up, scared that she might not ever wake up.  
“Give her to me,” Dwalin barked. He picked her up and they ran out of the mountain and safely into the daylight.

“Is she still breathing?” Ori gasped right behind Dwalin.  
“Aye, I can feel her heartbeat,” the warrior grunted, coming to a halt with the rest of the Company. He knelt down and gently shook her. “Come on, lass, wake up. Yer safe now.”  
Inez blinked blurrily up at him. “Where are we?” she croaked.  
“Out of the mountains,” he replied, helping her sit up slow. She groaned and her head lolled against his chest. Dwalin felt a rush of protectiveness towards her and held her close. “Ye gave us a right good scare, lassie. Thought Mahal had taken ye to his Halls.”  
She smirked. “No God would want me, Dwalin,” she murmured bitterly.  
The burly Dwarf scowled, cursing those that had driven her to this state of self-loathing. He helped her stand and she grimaced when she had to hold onto him for support. Her right leg stung and was at the very least heavily bruised.  
Balin pulled her into an embrace. She stiffened for a second then relaxed and gently head-butted the side of his head. “Are you alright?”  
“Nothing a long rest won’t fix,” she said. She hesitated and then admitted, “A soul would speed things up.”  
“We’ll find you a nice squirrel or two, lass,” Dwalin laughed.  
Inez’s nose wrinkled. “Too fluffy.” She looked over their shoulders and her eyes met Thorin’s. He inclined his head once and she returned the gesture.  
“Where is Bilbo?” Gandalf suddenly asked. “Where is he?”  
Bilbo wasn’t with them.  
“Where is our Hobbit?!” the Wizard panicked.  
“Curse the Halfling,” Dwalin growled. “Now he’s lost!”  
“I thought he was with Dori,” Gloin said.  
“Don’t blame me!”  
“Where did you last see him?” Gandalf demanded.  
“I think I saw him slip away when they first cornered us,” Nori spoke up.  
“I’ll tell you what happened,” Thorin snorted. “Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it. He’s thought of nothing but his warm bed since he left home. We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone.”  
Inez would have slapped him if she wasn’t feeling so weak. As it was, she took a step forward ready to defend her small friend, but Balin’s arm around her stopped her. The Vitulaman lowered her head and fisted her hands. “Bilbo’s not like that,” she murmured, drawing everyone’s eyes to her. “He’s not. He wouldn’t leave us like that.”  
“She’s right. I wouldn’t.” They all looked up in surprise as Bilbo appeared from behind a tree, slipping something into his pocket.  
“Bilbo Baggins!” Gandalf exclaimed. “I have never been so relieved in my life!”  
“How on Earth did you get past the goblins?” Fili asked.  
“How indeed,” Dwalin muttered as Inez embraced the Hobbit.  
Inez felt him stiffen in her arms and she knew he didn’t want to talk about the Ring. The Ring that smelled like feted meat in his pocket. “What does it matter?” she said, pulling back and looking him in the eyes. “He’s back. Safe and sound.”  
“It matters,” Thorin spoke. “Tell me…why did you come back?”  
Bilbo looked at him and sighed. “Look, I know you doubt me. And you’re right; I often think of Bag End. I miss my books, and my garden and my armchair. See that’s where I belong. That’s home. And that’s why I came back because you don’t have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back.”  
Thorin’s eyes became over bright and he looked down. Balin looked close to tears himself. Gandalf smiled down at Bilbo. The Hobbit looked up at Inez and nodded his thanks. She placed a hand on his shoulder, but knew that they would need to have a talk later about the Ring.  
Then a dreadful howl filled the air.  
“Everyone heard me say ‘safe and sound’, right?” Inez asked.  
“I think you spoke too soon,” Nori moaned. “Wargs!”  
“Out of the frying pan,” Thorin spat.  
“And into the fire,” Gandalf finished. “Run!”

Fucking trees.  
Inez clutched the tree branch she was on with her arms and legs, staring down, down, down, down… You get the idea. A long drop to eternity. And the ground behind them was blocked by Azog the Pale Orc and his scouts.  
“How can he still be alive?!” Gloin howled.  
“Think about it guys,” Inez hissed. “He only lost an arm. It’s not exactly a vital part of the body!” The tree shook violently and she cried out, tightening her grip on the branch. “Gandalf, tell me you have a plan!”  
“Be patient, my dear!”  
The tree shook again and Inez’s grip slipped. She slipped sideways and was suddenly hanging upside down with her legs the only thing keeping her from falling. She saw another body fall and her heart leapt into her throat when she realized that it was Ori, hanging desperately from Dori’s boot.  
“Inez!” Balin shouted.  
Okay this. This is a problem.


	22. Redemption: Chapter 22

Hanging from a high cliff from a falling tree by one’s legs was a blood-pumping experience to say the least. As Inez hanged there, she contemplated the absolutely horrific ways her body would be twisted and bloodied when she finally hit the ground far, far, far below. Of course, there were trees in the way, so parts of her might be stuck in the branches.  
All of these morbid thoughts came to a complete halt when Inez looked up and saw Thorin running down the tree trunk towards his enemy.  
“Thorin, no!” Balin cried while still trying to reach Inez.  
“Thorin, don’t be an idiot!” Inez shouted. “We’re not done tormenting you yet!”  
But Thorin charged towards Azog, Orcrist held aloft and his shield at the ready in front of him. Azog roared and spurred his White Warg forward to crash into the Dwarf king. Who was rather tiny by comparison. Such an epic fail.  
The branch Inez was holding onto groaned ominously. Inez stared at it and it cracked.  
“Inez!” Balin shouted, reaching for her. “Grab my hand!”  
She tried to curl up, but the branch cracked again and she was still too far. “I can’t!” Then Thorin shouted in pain; the Warg had him between its teeth and shook him like a chew toy. “Thorin!”  
“Thorin!” Dwalin howled and his branch snapped, hanging only by a few pine needles!  
“Gandalf, I’m not patient anymore!” Inez screamed.  
“Just…hold on!” the Wizard groaned, trying to keep Dori and Ori from falling.  
She saw it happen right before it actually did. This was it. Oh Christ, this was it! Inez met Balin’s eyes and then she was falling through the air.  
“Inez!”  
Her scream was lodged in her throat as she watched the tree shrink above her. She closed her eyes and waited for the first blow. Hopefully she would snap her neck in the first blow and it would be all over. She wouldn’t have to deal with any pain anymore. The first hit came, but it was softer than she had imagined. Like feathers. But then she stopped falling and began to rise again. Inez opened her eyes and found that she was on the back of a giant eagle!  
Several eagles dropped from the sky. Some attacked the Orcs and their Wargs while others picked the Dwarves up. Balin was dropped behind her and he gripped her arms tightly and buried his head in her hair.  
“Where’s Thorin?” she asked, searching frantically.  
An eagle had him in its claws right above them. He was unconscious and bloodied. Inez saw that his shield was slipping from his arm, ready to drop to a lost grave. She stretched up her arms and the oak article passed from the Dwarf king into Vitulamen hands.  
The eagles carried them throughout the rest of the night. The sun had just peeked over the mountains when they alighted upon a stony Carrock. Balin and Inez dropped to the stone and were then joined by the others. Thorin was laid upon the ground and Inez saw firsthand his wounds.  
Gandalf jumped from the back of the last eagle and knelt beside the king. He placed a hand over Thorin’s face and murmured a spell under his breath. When he removed his hand, Thorin breathed and his eyes opened.  
“The Halfling?”  
“It’s alright,” Gandalf said, standing. “Bilbo is safe.”  
Thorin jerked to his feet, shaking off Fili and Dwalin who tried to help him. He glared at Bilbo. “You! What were you doing?! You nearly got yourself killed!”  
Inez leaned over to Dwalin. “Did I miss something while I was dangling for my life?”  
“Hobbit stood between Azog and Thorin.”  
Thorin took a step towards the Hobbit and then another. “Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you had no place amongst us?”  
Inez hissed under her breath. How dare he?! Bilbo had saved him from death and he would belittle him for his bravery?!  
“I have never been so wrong in all my life!” Thorin embraced Bilbo like a brother.  
But something had caught Inez’s eye. A lone figure in the far distance; a shadow against a dawn sky. “Is that what I think it is?” she asked, drawing the attention of everyone else.  
“Erebor,” Gandalf said.  
“Our home,” Thorin murmured with a smile.  
Home.  
Such a foreign concept to Inez. And she suddenly remembered that she had no place among these Dwarves. They had a home; two in fact. But maybe… Maybe it was time she accepted the fact that she did have place in Middle-Earth. If not with the Dwarves- the thought left her feeling crushed- then perhaps in Rivendell. Or maybe even the Shire.  
“Thorin, you should have your wounds looked at,” Fili suddenly said. “Oin?”  
The old healer nodded, but then frowned. “I don’t have very many herbs left with me.”  
“Aye, and all our food is gone, too,” Nori spoke from behind Inez.  
It was hard to tell who groaned the loudest; Bombur, Bilbo or Inez.  
“Dwalin and Inez are hurt, too,” Ori piped up, eyeing Dwalin’s arm apprehensively.  
“It’s nothin’,” the warrior-Dwarf mumbled, secretly pleased that the young Dwarf had noticed him. Inez touched her forehead and her fingers came away bloody. Balin was suddenly at her side, pulling her down so that he could inspect the injury. “I’m fine,” she muttered feebly.  
“Aye, and I’m an Elven lady,” he retorted strictly.

“Ow,” the warrior-Dwarf growled as Oin washed his arm.  
“Do you need me to hold your hand?” Inez teased. She smiled innocently as he glared half-heartedly at her.  
“Hilarious, lassie.”  
She smirked and sat down next to him. “Okay, so I think I know what I’m gonna call my axes.”  
“Oh, aye?”  
“Yep. Sam and Dean. The two most badass weapons a girl could have named after the two most badass monster hunters a girl could have.”  
Dwalin raised an eyebrow at her. “Silly.”  
Inez frowned. “Fine. Then their alter egos; Jared and Jensen.”  
Dwalin rolled his eyes. “You are a strange girl, Inez Jackson.”  
She rolled her eyes in return. “Okay, how about Glitter and Sparkle?”  
Oin chuckled. “They’re your weapons, lassie. Name them as you please. In the end, there is only one name for a weapon.”  
There can only be one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if ya'll can guess the names, you get brownies
> 
> follow me on  
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> Twitter: @CartmellA  
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